Game Art: Event: Eva & Franco Mattes' "Synthetic Perfomances" (by Paolo Ruffino)

Gilbertandgeorge-1

Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG, "Reenactment of Gilbert&George's The Singing Sculpture", Synthetic Performance in Second Life, 2007

Intro-2

Portraits by Eva and Franco Mattes, aka 0100101110101101.ORG, digital prints on canvas, 2007

On 15th November 2006, Eva and Franco Mattes, a.k.a. 0100101110101101.org, opened their first Avatar's Portraits exhibition. The very first opening was at Ars Virtua, a contemporary art gallery based in Second Life. The 3D environment was designed to look exactly like the Italian Academy at Columbia University, where a "real life" exhibition was scheduled two weeks later. Despite the fact that the one in Second Life was trying to imitate the later exhibition, the synthetic gallery appeared as the original one. This was due to the subject of the new Mattes' project: a series of portraits of Second Life avatars. The canvas (or their digital replicas) were not depicting real humans, but the customizable figurines that inhabit the virtual world of Second Life. As a consequence, the subjects of the drawings could partecipate at the virtual opening, but not at the one at Columbia University. In other words, the long tradition of portraiture was used for the first time to celebrate digital beings not made of flesh. Nonetheless, gamers care for their own avatars, sometimes more than for themselves. The digital canvas thus depict beings that, somehow, exist in our minds, and influence our behaviour as much as those from the real world. The project lasted for two years. At the end, four series of portraits were designed and exhibited: "Portraits", "13 Most Beautiful Avatars", "LOL", and "Annoying Japanese Child Dinosaur".

These series were followed by an artistic project of a completely different kind. Eva and Franco Mattes started to reenact in Second Life some pieces of performance art. Using their personal avatars (designed from the real Eva and Franco's bodies) they reenacted historical performances like Chris Burden's "Shoot" (1971), Vito Acconci's "Seedbed" (1972), Valie Export's "Tapp und Tastkino" (1968-1971), Gileber&George's "The Singing Sculptures" (1968 - ongoing), Joseph Beuys's "7000 oaks" (1982-1987) and Marina Abramovich's "Imponderabilia" (1977). The ongoing project makes the spectators reflect upon what is left of the body  in a digital environment.

Text: Paolo Ruffino, 2009

Images: Courtesy of the artist

Related: "I'm Not There" exhibition

Related: Monograph

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