GAMESCENES

GAME ART: ED FORNELIES’S INSIDE OUT 2 (2024)

Installation View, Ed Fornieles, Inside Out 2, Carlos/Ishikawa, 2024
Image © Ed Fornieles, courtesy Carlos/Ishikawa, London. Photographer: Damian Griffiths

Installation View, Ed Fornieles, Inside Out 2, Carlos/Ishikawa, 2024
Image © Ed Fornieles, courtesy Carlos/Ishikawa, London. Photographer: Damian Griffiths

Recently presented at Carlos/Ishikawa gallery in London between May 23 – July 6, 2024, Ed Fornieles’s Inside Out 2 is an ambitious exploration of the intersections between corporate structures, personal relationships, and digital interactions, presented through a richly narrative-driven multimedia approach. This project extends Fornieles’ continuous investigation into the dynamics of digital and social spheres, previously exemplified in his Dorm Daze project, where participants inhabited fictional Facebook profiles, blurring the lines between personal and fictional identities.

Central to Inside Out 2 is the conceptualization of a company, Fini, as both a work of art and a corporate entity, challenging traditional notions by positioning the company as a medium that generates value through engagement rather than tangible products. The narrative intricately weaves the concept of friendship into corporate dynamics, prompting profound questions about the nature of relationships within commercial and digital contexts. Drawing on the Brazilian Anthropophagy movement, which advocated for the cultural digestion and transformation of colonial influences, Fornieles illustrates how digital and corporate cultures can be absorbed and reinterpreted.

Installation View, Ed Fornieles, Inside Out 2, Carlos/Ishikawa, 2024
Image © Ed Fornieles, courtesy Carlos/Ishikawa, London. Photographer: Damian Griffiths

The gallery space, referred to as The Zone, acts as a transformative environment where objects and concepts are recontextualized, allowing viewers to engage in a suspension of disbelief. Fornieles provocatively suggests that shared hallucinations, or mutual agreements on perceived realities, form the basis of our understanding of the world, thereby challenging the stability of reality itself. The project employs a range of narrative techniques, from cute aesthetics to speculative fiction and historical revisionism, creating a multilayered experience that defies conventional boundaries between fiction and reality.

Installation View, Ed Fornieles, Inside Out 2, Carlos/Ishikawa, 2024
Image © Ed Fornieles, courtesy Carlos/Ishikawa, London. Photographer: Damian Griffiths

Envisioning future expansions, Fornieles introduces the Oom app, positioned at the intersection of messaging and mobile gaming, and a movie that combines live-action with animation, further extending the project  "narrative universe. By discussing the role of venture capital in the growth of new companies, Fornieles draws intriguing parallels between the ambitions of artists and venture capitalists in their shared pursuit of world-building, highlighting the economic and philosophical challenges of sustaining such an innovative endeavor. Inside Out 2 is a complex work that invites viewers to interrogate contemporary culture through the lenses of corporate structures, digital identities, and personal relationships, urging a reconsideration of how we engage with the so-called “digital”.

LINK: Ed Fornieles’s Inside Out 2

EVENT: FILE 2024: QUBIT AI (JULY 3 - AUGUST 25 2024, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL)

FILE 2024: QUBIT AI

July 3 - August 25 2024

Centro Cultural FIESP

Avenida Paulista, 1313 Em frente a estação Trianon-Masp do Metrô

Bela Vista, São Paulo - SP, 01311-200, Brazil

 

In the heart of São Paulo, at the FIESP Cultural Center, the FILE 2024 festival unfurls a groundbreaking intersection of art and technology through its latest exhibition, QUBIT AI: Quantum Computing and Synthetic Artificial Intelligence. Curated by Ricardo Barreto and Paula Perissinotto, the exhibition, running from July 3rd to August 25th, promises to redefine the boundaries AI-inspired/co-generated digital art.

At the core of QUBIT AI is the revolutionary potential of quantum computing. This avant-garde technology, characterized by quantum superposition and entanglement, introduces novel creative avenues for artists. Barreto and Perissinotto articulate this paradigm shift in their curatorial text, emphasizing that quantum computing heralds an unprecedented frontier for both computer science and the arts.

For the first time, an art exhibition features a fully operational Quantum Computer. This cutting-edge inclusion is complemented by two pioneering Brazilian projects: Quantum Photography by Gabriela Barreto Lemos and Sounding Qubits by Eduardo Reck Miranda. Lemos’ work explores the visual possibilities inherent in quantum phenomena, while Miranda's installation translates the enigmatic behaviors of qubits into an auditory experience.

While quantum computing represents a nascent technological revolution, synthetic artificial intelligence is already reshaping artistic landscapes. Synthetic art, produced through AI in collaboration with human creativity, parallels the radical shifts of early modernity, offering new methods of creation across diverse media.

The exhibition's synthetic art section is divided into four thematic areas: Sound Synthetics, Aesthetic Synthetics, Cinematic Synthetics, and Architectural Synthetics. One of the standout installations, INTERATOR, is a three-dimensional cinema without VR glasses. This immersive experience allows viewers to navigate a space filled with simultaneous synthetic video projections, creating an interactive dialogue between the audience and the art.

Highlighted artists within Sound Synthetics include Dennis Schöneberg, whose works such as Bodydub and Transparenza blend visual and auditory stimuli to craft a multisensory narrative. The Spanish collective Iskarioto's dystopian AI films, paired with AI-generated music, further push the envelope of what synthetic art can achieve.

QUBIT AI’s interactive installations invite visitors to become active participants in the art. Klaus Obermaier's EGO uses the concept of alienation from psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan to distort the viewer's reflection, examining the tension between reality and symbolism. "The Forgettable Art Machine" places the visitor at the nexus of art and technology, turning each interaction into a personalized masterpiece.

Elizabeth Kolbert's influence is evident in Speculative Evolution, Prototype 1, an AI-driven simulator that allows visitors to create new species within a speculative ecosystem. Marc Vilanova’s Cascade immerses viewers in the hidden frequencies of waterfalls, transforming auditory experiences into a sensory exploration of environmental soundscapes.

Seph Li's Everything Before, Everything After transforms collective touch into a dynamic digital painting, capturing the fluidity of interaction in a visual symphony. Holly Herndon’s AI voice model, Holly+, stars in the music video Jolene, featuring Sam Rolfes, which showcases the capabilities of synthetic performers and their impact on contemporary music.

Complementing QUBIT AI, the FILE LED Show 2024 illuminates Fiesp's facade with innovative creations from USP Visual Arts Course and IED São Paulo students. Under the guidance of Dr. Silvia Laurentiz and Daniel Grizando, these collaborations highlight the interdisciplinary nature of design and the transformative power of university partnerships

QUBIT AI at FILE 2024 is not merely an exhibition; it is a visionary journey into the future of art. By integrating quantum computing and synthetic AI, it challenges and expands our understanding of creativity, inviting us to explore the uncharted territories where art and technology converge.

LINK: FILE 2024: QUIBIT AI

EVENT: ZHOU YAN'S CLOUD 9 (MAY 25 -JULY 7 2024, BEIJING, CHINA)

Zhou Yan, Blind Field (video still),
2022–2024, interactive video installation, real time, image
courtesy of the artist and SPURS Gallery

Zhou Yan, a Beijing-born artist with an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is renowned for his experimental approach, blending video installations, sculptures, paintings, and interactive media. His practice often interrogates the relational dynamics between individuals and collectives, delving into the subtleties of causality and interdependence. In Cloud 9, running from May 25 to July 7, 2024 at SPURS Gallery, Beijing, Zhou amplifies this exploration by leveraging video game engine technology to create real-time video installations that challenge viewers' perceptions and interactions.

The centerpiece of the exhibition, Blind Field (2022–2024), epitomizes Zhou's innovative use of technology. Inspired by his experience in an MRI scanner, the installation invites the audience into a simulated environment where their movements alter the visual narrative. By stepping on an interactive pedal, viewers disrupt the video imagery, evoking a sense of restricted vision and prompting reflections on the limits of perception and knowledge. This piece underscores Zhou's ability to translate personal anxiety into a universal commentary on human experience.

Cloud 9 is a testament to Zhou's capacity to transform his personal pandemic experiences into profound artistic expressions. The animation installation Trophy (2024) mirrors the triumphant display of video game achievements, using three short animations to symbolize the erasure of process and the finality of completion. In contrast, Shortcut (2024) revives the journey, drawing from Zhou’s bouldering experiences to scatter remnants of intense physical activity throughout the gallery. These works encapsulate the dichotomy of finality and continuity, resonating with the fragmented nature of pandemic life.

Zhou Yan, Trophy 3, 2024, GIF
animation, acrylic, LCD screen, 30 x 21 cm, image courtesy of the artist and SPURS Gallery

Zhou Yan, Trophy 2, 2024, GIF
animation, acrylic, LCD screen, 30 x 21 cm, image courtesy of the artist and SPURS Gallery

The exhibition also features Endless Waiting (2024), a golden sculpture that captures the monotony and anticipation of the pandemic period. Nothing (2024), an assemblage of outdoor functional fabric, and Trap (2024), a video work with intermittent lights, further illustrate Zhou's meticulous attention to the mundane and overlooked aspects of modern life. By elevating these “dull, unimportant, and negligible” elements, Zhou imbues them with significant artistic value, inviting viewers to reconsider their own experiences and memories.

Zhou Yan, Blind Field (installation view)
2022–2024, interactive video installation, real time, image
courtesy of the artist and SPURS Gallery

Cloud 9 also reflects Zhou’s skepticism towards societal systems and his quest to unravel their operations. This critical perspective is woven into his works, which often dissect the tension between elitism and anti-intellectualism, a theme that has become more pronounced in the aftermath of the global pandemic. Zhou's art becomes a medium through which he disentangles his personal emotions and life experiences, presenting them as inquiries into the mechanisms of society.

Zhou Yan, born in Beijing, received his BFA in Visual Communication from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His artistic practice explores the interrelations and dependencies between individuals and collectives, focusing on minute details and causality through various media, including video installations, gaming, and artist books. Zhou's work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions such as "Cloud 9" (2024) at SPURS Gallery, Beijing, "Lazarus" (2022) at Click Ten Art Space, and "Pale Fire" (2020) at SPURS Gallery. His group exhibitions include "Motion Is Action—35 Years of Chinese Media Art" (2023) and "Art’s Language, Artists’ Game" (2022). He has also participated in screenings like the 29th Chicago Underground Film Festival (2022) and the 65th International Film Festival Oberhausen (2019). Zhou has received several awards, including the 2023 “RanRan” Young Artist Prize, “The Exploration Award,” and a nomination for the 2020 AAC Young Artist of the Year Award. His artist books are part of the Joan Flash Artist Book Collection in Chicago.

LINK: SPURS gallery

GAME ART: LAAB'S HARBOUR COUP (2024)

Harbour Cup, an interactive artwork created by the artist collective LAAB for the Science in Art exhibition along the Central Harbourfront promenade in Hong Kong, seamlessly integrates sports, science, and art. Reminiscent of traditional table soccer, Harbour Cup diverges by eliminating goals and predefined teams. Players are thus compelled to negotiate and determine their gameplay approach, whether through competition or collaboration. By rendering the familiar unfamiliar, LAAB fosters a setting that encourages reflection, communication, and negotiation among participants. Competition is replaced by cooperation and experimentation.

The installation features solar-powered LED lights embedded within the artwork. The movement of the ball activates capacitive sensors inside the watertight 3D-printed consoles, illuminating its trajectory at night. The shiny metallic surface of the artwork reflects the chromatic lighting of the surrounding high-rise buildings. Comprising three pieces of varying heights and dimensions, Harbour Cup accommodates individuals of different body sizes. Through this piece, LAAB invites people of all ages to set aside their phones and engage with each other through play.

LAAB is a cutting-edge laboratory for art and architecture, dedicated to crafts and innovation. Co-led by Otto Ng and Yip Chun Hang, this collective of artists, architects, designers, engineers, makers, and sociologists collaborates laterally to bring visionary ideas to life. The studio believes that art and architecture can bridge the gap between people and nature, community, and culture. Utilizing a precise blend of cutting-edge digital technology and traditional craftsmanship, LAAB's design process explores inventive spatial experiences and intricate details. The studio's work encompasses art installations, interior design, architecture, and public spaces. Notable projects include the Flying Window at Hong Kong International Airport, Harbour Kiosk at the Avenue of Stars, and Hong Kong House at Echigo-Tsumari Art Field in Japan. LAAB's innovative designs and craftsmanship have garnered recognition from esteemed international design communities, including Japan Good Design Award Best 100, Architizer A+ Awards, and Design Anthology Awards. In 2021, LAAB was honored as The Best Design Studio by the INDE Awards.

LINK: LAAB (All images courtesy of LAAB)

EVENT: LIST PROJECTS 30: JEREMY COUILLARD (JULY 18 - OCTOBER 6 2024, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSSETS)

Jeremy Couillard, Zede’s Dream, 2023 (still). Video game simulation, color, sound, loop; run time variable. Courtesy the artist

List Projects 30: Jeremy Couillard
July 18–October 6, 2024

curated by Natalie Bell, with assistance from Zach Ngin

MIT List Visual Arts Center

20 Ames Street
Bakalar Gallery, Building E15
Cambridge, MA 02139

The MIT List Visual Arts Center is showcasing Jeremy Couillard’s first solo museum exhibition, List Projects 30: Jeremy Couillard, from July 18 to October 6, 2024. Couillard, originally trained as a painter and self-taught coder and digital artist, integrates various forms like playable games, web projects, and video installations in his work. His distinctive style features imaginative character design and humorous, absurd scenarios.

The exhibition highlights an installation of his latest game, Escape from Lavender Island (2023), set in a dystopian city with whimsical elements and social critique inspired by anthropologist David Graeber. Visitors can engage with Couillard's newest game, navigating through the surreal and dystopian cityscape. The game’s neighborhoods, such as the Corporate University Prison Town and Clown Crypt Renovation Zone, are filled with hidden quests and enigmatic public sculptures, providing an engaging and layered narrative experience.

Visitors can also play the game and view a video simulation, Zede’s Dream, featuring music and narrative vignettes. This continually generated video simulation offers a guided tour through Lavender Island, accompanied by an evocative soundtrack and narrated vignettes. This piece provides a cinematic glimpse into the lives of the game's characters, blending elements of reality and fantasy.

List Projects 30: Jeremy Couillard also includes new acrylic paintings linked to the digital art within the game. Couillard’s new series of paintings utilize a process of masking and layering to create intricate designs. These paintings, derived from digital assets within the game, bridge the gap between digital and physical media, offering a tangible connection to the virtual world of Lavender Island. The exhibition features wooden sculptures and design elements that bring the digital flora and fantastical objects from the game into the physical space of the gallery. Notable pieces include wooden sculptures of digitally rendered flowers and a giant neon sweater reading “Depression,” providing a poignant commentary on modern life.

Jeremy Couillard, Zede’s Dream, 2023 (still). Video game simulation, color, sound, loop; run time variable. Courtesy the artist

The exhibition is curated by Natalie Bell, with assistance from Zach Ngin, who have carefully selected and arranged Couillard’s works to create a cohesive and immersive narrative. The curation emphasizes the thematic elements of Couillard's work, such as the critique of societal norms and the exploration of alternative realities.

Jeremy Couillard, Zede’s Dream, 2023 (still). Video game simulation, color, sound, loop; run time variable. Courtesy the artist

The MIT List Visual Arts Center has planned a series of events and programs to complement the exhibition. These include artist talks, interactive workshops, and guided tours, aiming to engage the public and provide deeper insights into Couillard's creative process and the themes explored in his work. For a full list of events and programs, please visit this page

Jeremy Couillard, Zede’s Dream, 2023 (still). Video game simulation, color, sound, loop; run time variable. Courtesy the artist

The exhibition is supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Council for the Arts at MIT, and the Mass Cultural Council, among other generous donors. The backing of these institutions underscores the cultural and educational significance of Couillard’s work, and their support has been instrumental in bringing this innovative exhibition to life.

Jeremy Couillard, born in Livonia, Michigan in 1980 and based in New York, has exhibited at notable venues like Denny Gallery, Times Square Midnight Moment, and the Rotterdam Film Festival. He holds an MFA in Painting from Columbia University and teaches New Media at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. His achievements in the gaming world include multiple award nominations. HIS work bridges the gap between digital art and traditional media, reflecting his versatility and innovative approach. His interest in blending physical and virtual realities is evident in his previous projects, which often involve interactive elements that challenge the viewer's perception of reality. Couillard's work is also influenced by his exploration of speculative fiction and surrealism, creating worlds that are both bizarre and thought-provoking. His use of humor and satire allows him to address serious themes such as consumerism, corporate control, and existential dilemmas in an engaging manner. His teaching role at LaGuardia Community College enables him to inspire a new generation of artists in the field of new media, contributing to the evolving discourse on digital art and its implications. Couillard's ability to merge art with gaming has positioned him as a unique figure in contemporary art, where his exhibitions continue to draw attention from both art enthusiasts and gamers alike.

All images and videos in this page courtesy the Artist

LINK: List Projects 30: Jeremy Couillard

LINK: Jeremy Couillard

GAME ART: GUENDALINA CERRUTI’S MY TOWN 1X1 (2024)

Guendalina Cerruti, My Town 1x1, 2024, archival inket print on cotton paper, wood, non-reflective glass, metal grid panel, spray paint, acrylic paint 105 x 105 cm 41 3/8 x 41 3/8 in

Guendalina Cerruti, My Town 16x9, 2024, archival inket print on cotton paper, wood, non-reflective glass, metal grid panel, spray paint, acrylic paint 82 x 37.5 cm 32 1/4 x 14 3/4 in

Created using the city-building game Township, Guendalina Cerruti’s My Town 1x1 (2024) presents a digitally rendered utopian garden. This immersive digital landscape features a gallery, a museum, amusement rides, lush plants and flowers, and a tennis court reminiscent of the one showcased in With Urgency. The scene is encapsulated within a dense black frame and metal grid, creating a boundary that simultaneously captivates and restricts the viewer. This deliberate confinement enhances the allure of the garden, challenging the viewer’s sense of access and control. The landscape’s elements seem to defy the imposed boundaries, spilling across the grid and resisting the imposition of authority, thus creating a dynamic interplay between confinement and freedom.

My Town 1x1 was recently presented at ILENIA art gallery in London.

Guendalina Cerruti, born in Milan, Italy, is an emerging artist known for her distinctive approach to contemporary art. Her educational journey includes studying at the Chelsea College of Arts in London, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2014, followed by a Master of Arts from the Royal College of Art in 2016. Cerruti's work is characterized by its innovative use of materials and exploration of themes related to consumer culture, identity, and the human experience. She often employs everyday objects and transforms them into thought-provoking art pieces that challenge conventional perceptions and invite viewers to engage in a deeper contemplation of the mundane aspects of life. Her installations, sculptures, and mixed-media works reflect a keen interest in the intersections between art, design, and popular culture.

LINK: Guendalina Cerruti (Images courtesy of ILENIA art gallery)

GAME ART: MAK2'S ART SURVIVORS (2024)

Mak2, Art Survivors (2024). FPS action video games, edition of 3 + 1 AP. Dimension variable. © Mak2. Courtesy DE SARTHE, Hong Kong.

Art Survivors (2024), a new artistic first-person shooter game developed by Mak2, transports players into the gripping setting of a fictional art fair, perhaps the ultimate theater of war. The game begins with a familiar artistic milieu, showcasing the artist’s own AI-generated artworks. But the serene atmosphere quickly spirals into chaos as all the non-player characters within the game transform into feral zombies. In this high-stakes environment, players are thrust into a survival scenario where they must navigate through the dystopian art fair, which has now turned into a complex maze, to combat and eliminate the infected attendees. Dressed in business casual attire, these zombies add a surreal contrast to the harrowing tasks players face. As the living dead advance, the game cleverly intertwines hysterical gameplay with deep narrative elements, making the experience as intellectually stimulating as it is exhilarating. Art Survivors cleverly juxtaposes the calm, elitist, sophisticated world of art fairs with the intense, frantic nature of your average zombie apocalypse. The game employs this scenario as a satirical exaggeration to explore and critique the often-unseen competitive dynamics within the art community and belongs to a long tradition of institutional critique through video game means. Art Survivors reflects on themes of hierarchy, competition, trauma, and strategic thinking, all cleverly wrapped in the guise of an art fair turned survival battleground: the battle royale equivalent of an art fair. The work is currently on display in the context of the aptly titled show Art Survivors (May 4 - June 22 2024) at De Sarthe art gallery in Hong Kong.

Art Survivors, Mak2.2024 installation shots ©  Courtesy DE SARTHE, Hong Kong.

Mak2 (b. 1989, Hong Kong) is a multidisciplinary conceptual artist whose oeuvre addresses contemporary issues through an exploration of philosophy, art history, cultural shifts, socio-political changes, the internet, and emerging technologies. Her artistic expressions, characterized by a blend of humor and keen inquiry, span various mediums including installations, paintings, drawings, video works, YouTube videos, stand-up comedy routines, and Instagram filters. Mak2’s art has gained international recognition, with exhibitions across various prestigious venues including the Shanghai K11 Art Mall, Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum, X Museum in Beijing, de Sarthe in Hong Kong, and the Pedro Cera Gallery in Lisbon. Her works have also been showcased in significant exhibitions such as Mirage or Reality in Shanghai, The Principle of Hope in Beijing, and at cultural institutions like Whitechapel Gallery in London and the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing. Mak2 lives and works in Hong Kong.

LINK: Art Survivors at De Sarthe

LINK: Mak2

BOOK: KEVIN STEBNER'S GAME GENIE POEMS (SPRING 2024)

Kevin Stebner, a Calgary-based multidisciplinary artist, writer, and musician, has consistently explored the intersection of art and video games through his project GreyScreen. This expansive artistic endeavor incorporates an array of media, from music to visual installations and poetry.

In spring 2024, Stebner is set to release a new book, Game Genie: Poems, published by The Blasted Tree Art Collective and Publishing Company. This innovative collection features oulipo-inspired lipogram poems (i.e., written works composed of words selected so as to avoid the use of one or more letters of the alphabet.), which double as working Game Genie codes for Nintendo, demonstrating a unique fusion of literary creativity and retro-gaming technology.

Here's an example, Analog (Analogue), originally published in Backslash Lit

Originally from Red Deer, Alberta, Stebner has been a prominent figure in Calgary's creative scene for nearly two decades. His journey into video game-inspired music began in 2007 while he was teaching in Korea. Facing the challenge of creating music in a small, isolated space, he discovered Chiptune, a genre that uses vintage gaming consoles to create music, and has since delved deeper into this style.

Related to his GreyScreen project, Stebner’s work often features interactive installations that blend visual art with sound through the manipulation of vintage video game equipment. One of his most remarkable projects is Glitch (2016), an interactive digital visual art installation that represents an advanced iteration of the earlier Switches Make Glitches project. This innovative piece features a circuit-bent Nintendo Entertainment System, where the video chip is intricately wired to a user-operated control box. Although the system retains its functional integrity, it has been transformed into a creative platform similar to patching a modular synth or operating a telephone switchboard. Participants can interact with the installation by configuring their own circuit bends.

GreyScreen, Glitch, 2016, presented at Beakerhead Festival, 2016. Photo (c) Kevin Stebner 

This hands-on engagement allows users to generate a unique array of visual glitches, offering a personalized experience with each interaction. This approach not only reimagines nostalgic elements in a contemporary context but also has led to collaborations with prominent institutions like the EPCOR Centre, Beakerhead Arts Festival, and Contemporary Calgary, where his installations invite viewers to experience the confluence of sound, sight, and interactive art.

LINK: Kevin Stebner

LINK: GreyScreen

EVENT: ADONIS ARCHONTIDES (APRIL 26 - MAY 9 2024, ONLINE)

The Death Trilogy

performance documentation, digital video and audio recorded in The Sims 4, 33’ 05”, 2024, Cyprus

Created by Adonis Archontides

Introduced by Matteo Bittanti

vral.org

 

Za woka genava (I think you are hot), Ya gotta wob’ere! Ya gotta wob’ere! (Don’t give up! Keep trying!) and Za woka genava (I think you are hot) form a trilogy in which Archontides delves into the use of video games as a platform for documenting dual performances, those of himself and his avatar, Adonis (Sim), created within the popular simulation game, The Sims 4. This unique collaboration highlights a peculiar interdependence: although Archontides controls the outcomes of their joint endeavors, both entities contribute essential roles to their creative process. These performances unfold under the passive gaze of an audience, drawn into a somewhat sadistic voyeurism. Yet, crucially, Adonis (Sim) remains unaware of his reality as a digital construct, performing actions dictated by Archontides that, while impossible in the real world, are completely feasible within the game’s algorithmic constraints. The Death Trilogy pushes the boundaries of digital life and death, as evidenced in the final moments of each piece. Here, viewers witness Adonis’s resurrection, a thematic echo of the limitless possibilities afforded by simulated environments.

Adonis Archontides is a multidisciplinary artist who studied Illustration & Visual Media at the University of the Arts in London. His works are satirical and introspective; they often investigate the production of identity as a conscious or subconscious process, and the porosity between fiction, reality, and simulation. Part of his research focusing on his namesake Adonis, an ancient Greek nature deity, revolves around the effects of time on the interpretation of myths. An avid gamer, Archontides believes in the artistic potential of video games which often uses as raw material in his artistic practice. He has been collaborating with an avatar of himself created in the popular simulation game The Sims 4, juxtaposing Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey with an artist’s career trajectory through an episodic narrative. Archontides lives and works in Limassol, Cyprus.

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EVENT: CHOOSE YOUR PLAYER. GAME WORLDS FROM DICE TO PIXEL (MAY 17 2024 - APRIL 27 2025, FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, GERMANY)

Choose your Player
LuYang, Arcade Liverpool, FACT Liverpool, 2023 Installation View
© LuYang, Foto / Photo: Rob Battersby

Choose your Player. Game Worlds from Dice to Pixel

17.05.2024 – 27.04.2025

Opening: Thursday, 16.5.2024, 6 pm, free admission

Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen

Seestraße 22, 88045 Friedrichshafen, Germany

 

The exhibition Choose Your Player: Game Worlds from Dice to Pixel at the Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen in Germany, running from May 17, 2024, to April 27, 2025, focuses on the multifaceted role of games as a cultural and artistic medium. This exhibit showcases the evolution of gaming from simple escapism to a significant force in shaping future societies and emerging communities. By adopting the persona of one of five unique characters, visitors can deeply engage with the gaming world.

The showcase underscores the diversity of human gaming behavior, enhanced by rapid advancements in technology that continually redefine the ways we play. From traditional board and dice games to cutting-edge computer, console, and virtual reality games, the exhibition provides a comprehensive view of the cultural significance of gaming. It examines the narratives and mechanics embedded within games and their reciprocal influence on society. The exhibition also explores the artistic dimensions of gaming, featuring immersive artworks that entertain, critique, and expand viewpoints.

Specifically, the exhibition focuses on four thematic areas, each represented by a major art installation:

• Playgrounds: This segment illustrates how games serve as a versatile platform for experimenting with various skills and perspectives. It encourages visitors to challenge conventional views on identity, nationality, and gender, prompting a reevaluation of human existence. Installation: LuYang - LuYang NetiNeti Arcade

• Power Games: Highlighting the profound social and political commentary within games, this section examines their impact on historical perceptions and the reinforcement or subversion of stereotypes. Games are shown as mirrors and molders of power dynamics, often aligning with or questioning mainstream narratives. Installation: Larry Achiampong - Mama’s Bootleg Fight Club

• Expanded Horizons: Exploration remains a central theme and a pivotal game mechanic across numerous video game genres, with survival games often emphasizing endurance within perilous settings. In these narratives, airships frequently appear as a vital resource for navigating apocalyptic landscapes. Installation: Afrah Shafiq - Where Do the Ants Go?

• New Communities: Beyond mere gameplay, certain video games transform into vibrant hubs for creativity, social gatherings, and even entrepreneurial ventures. These platforms foster innovative ideas about the future and alternative modalities for living and community engagement. Installation: Keiken - Morphogenic Angels: Chapter 1 – Omoiyari

Choose your Player
Keiken, Morphogenic Angels, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, 2023
Installation View
© Keiken

These segments of the exhibition illuminate how video games transcend entertainment, acting as catalysts for cultural reflection and evolution. Each installation not only enhances the thematic exploration but also invites deeper interaction and contemplation from visitors.

LINK: CHOOSE YOUR PLAYER