Game Art: Temme Barkin-Leeds's "Shooters" (2011)

Temme Barkin-Leeds is an artist working in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, DC. Several of her artworks are inspired by videogames, including the above examples from her "Shooters" series. A fascinating project which raises important questions about issues of representation and simulation of war within a ludic context.

Barkin-Leeds writes:

"This body of work explores my reactions to war video games known as “Shooters” and their omission of images that depict actual war consequences. As a visual resource for my work, I research war video games such as “Medal of Honor 2010” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops” downloading clips for an archive of source material. I want to juxtapose the mechanical with the hand-made, so I mimic the horizontal orientation of video screen monitors by printing video game images in a large horizontal format before I paint them.

My mark making conveys my emotional response to the games. I work into the image with paint and collage, splattering paint, scraping, dragging, and using sand and blood as signifiers for the real-life violence that is omitted in the game imagery. Ironically, this very active act of throwing and scraping paint is a kind of violence in itself. It expresses my own anger, anxiety, horror, and repulsion. This process also reconciles my disgust and abhorrence of the games, with an understanding of the rush that comes with playing them. My paintings are both harsh and alluring." (2011)

Link: Temme Barkin-Leeds

Submitted by Matteo Bittanti