GAMESCENES

EVENT: ALAN BUTLER (SEPTEMBER 13 - 26 2024, ONLINE)

26 GASOLINE STATIONS

digital video (1920 x 1080), colour, sound, 4’ 23”, 2016, Ireland

created by Alan Butler

September 13 - 26 2024

Introduced by Matteo Bittanti

vral.org

 

26 GASOLINE STATIONS is a digital homage to Ed Ruscha’s iconic 1963 photobook, 26 Gasoline Stations. Ruscha’s work famously documented the mundane yet intriguing petrol stations along his route from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City. In contrast, Butler’s reinterpretation situates this journey within the virtual world of Grand Theft Auto V’s San Andreas, transforming the act of driving across America into a navigational exploration and documentation of digital spaces. Executed as both machinima and an ebook, the project captures each station from the confines of Butler’s studio in Ireland, emphasising the shift from physical to virtual mobility. This transformation not only pays tribute to Ruscha’s artistic exploration but also probes deeper into the evolving relationship between real and simulated environments, highlighting how digital media can extend and challenge traditional notions of landscape, place, and documentation in the age of video games.

Alan Butler is an artist who employs both traditional and new media to probe themes surrounding digital culture and its influence on shaping realities. His creative approach incorporates various materials and techniques from the annals of image–making, scrutinising the ideological and political implications of technologies like 3D graphics, video games, and cloud computing. His recent solo exhibitions include We are Now in the Mountains and They Are in Us at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (2023); The Need To Argue In The Master’s Language at Visual Carlow, Ireland (2018); and Down and Out in Los Santos at the Malmö Fotobiennal, Sweden (2017). He has also participated in notable group shows such as Open World: Video Games and Contemporary Art at The Akron Art Museum (2019) and Digital Citizen: The Precarious Subject at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, UK (2019). A key moment in his career was representing Ireland at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 as part of the collective ANNEX. His works are held in several collections including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Office of Public Works, Ireland, The Arts Council of Ireland, and Trinity College Dublin.

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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: IP YUK-YIU'S LEVEL 66 - THE ARCADE PROJECT (JULY 28-AUGUST 4 2024, HONG KONG)

 

 IP YUK-YIU'S LEVEL 66 - THE ARCADE PROJECT

The Box Freespace

West Kowloon Cultural District 18

Museum Drive Kowloon, Hong Kong

Ip Yuk-yiu’s latest venture, LEVEL 66 – The Arcade Project, transforms The Box into an immersive theatre experience where the boundaries between gameplay and performance blur seamlessly. Known for his innovative integration of computer games into artistic practice, Ip Yuk-yiu once again challenges conventional narratives by inviting the audience to become active participants in a dynamic, interactive environment.

LEVEL 66 – The Arcade Project is not merely a performance; it is a participatory theatre experience where the audience steps into a human arcade game lab. The project presents a liminal space, an ambiguous midpoint in a convoluted and possibly manipulated process, where participants are faced with various scenarios and actions. The central question posed to each player is deceptively simple: to play or not to play.

This intriguing premise serves as a vehicle for exploring deeper themes. The project utilizes game mechanics as both method and metaphor, dissecting the interplay of choice, agency, and the inherent conflicts within a structured yet unpredictable system. By engaging with these scenarios, participants confront the underlying mechanisms of control and decision-making, mirroring the complexities of real-world interactions.

Developed in collaboration with students, teachers, and graduates from the School of Theatre and Entertainment Arts at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, alongside the Technical and Production Team at West Kowloon Cultural District, LEVEL 66 – The Arcade Project epitomizes a collective effort in pushing the boundaries of experimental performance. This collaboration enriches the project, incorporating diverse perspectives and expertise, and fostering an environment where creativity and technology coalesce.

LEVEL 66 – The Arcade Project is presented under the aegis of TechBox, a collaborative platform established by West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK) and the School of Theatre and Entertainment Arts at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. TechBox is dedicated to merging the realms of media art and theatre design, encouraging experimental creations within a technological context.

IP Yuk-Yiu is an acclaimed experimental filmmaker, media artist, art educator, and independent curator. His diverse body of work spans experimental films, live performances, media installations, and video games. These creations have been widely exhibited at prominent international venues and festivals, including the European Media Art Festival, New York Film Festival (Views from the Avant-Garde), the Image Festival, FILE Festival, VideoBrasil, Transmediale, NTT ICC, ZKM, and the WRO Media Art Biennale. With over two decades of curatorial experience in film, video, and media art, IP Yuk-Yiu is a pivotal figure in the contemporary art scene. He is the founder of the art.ware project, an independent curatorial initiative dedicated to promoting new media art in Hong Kong. His efforts have significantly contributed to the visibility and appreciation of media art within the region. Currently, IP Yuk-Yiu serves as an Associate Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. His recent artistic endeavors explore hybrid creative forms that draw inspiration from cinema, video games, and contemporary media art practices. His innovative approach and substantial contributions to the field were recognized in 2019 when he was awarded the Artist of the Year (Media Arts) by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

LINK: LEVEL 66 – The Arcade Project

LINK: Ip Yuk-yiu

EVENT: GETXOPHOTO 2024: PLAY (JUNE 6 - 20 2024, GETXO, THE BASQUE COUNTRY)

GETXOPHOTO 2024: PLAY

June 6 - 30 2024

Curated by María Ptqk

Getxo, Basque Country

map and schedules

Getxophoto International Image Festival takes place in Getxo, the Basque Country, close to Bilbao (15km). It is conceived to walk around the city and delve into the exhibitions in a few hours. Most of them are open-air installations and can be visited at any time. Getxophoto is a festival focused on the image that has been held in Getxo –Basque Country– since 2007, created and managed by Begihandi. An initiative in continuous search of being more participative, committed and sustainable. Getxophoto International Image Festival takes place in Getxo, the Basque Country, close to Bilbao (15km). It is conceived to walk around the city and delve into the exhibitions in a few hours. Most of them are open-air installations and can be visited at any time.

The theme of the 2024 edition curated by María Ptqk is PLAY:

If last year we called for a PAUSE, to stop and slow down, in this edition of Getxophoto we are encouraging you to do the opposite and press another button: this year, let’s hit PLAY.

But what does this mean? As well as being the most popular key on all our devices, the one we use to play images, music and all types of audio-visuals, play refers principally to the idea of starting up. It evokes stimulation and movement, impulse and liveliness. Just as we press play for our favourite songs, we press play in ourselves when we get going, when our spirits rise. And it is this idea of activation – pressing the button of life – that best corresponds to the original meaning of the word. Because to play is probably the most creative human occupation that exists.

Games are central to the history of humanity. However, for a long time they were considered an unimportant activity, a kind of back garden of culture; they have been confined to the world of childhood or identified only with toys. Nevertheless, playing is a complex activity that appears under different guises. Sports and competitions are games, as are betting and games of chance, and of course, all forms of entertainment, from video games to the performing arts because, in many languages, playing also means acting a part or playing an instrument.

Therefore, offering a single definition of playing is almost impossible. Some games impose many rules while others give way to the realm of total freedom; some are individual and others collective; some are pure fun and others are extremely serious. What is clear is that playing is a higher-order human practice, basic in learning, present in all areas of life and inseparable from the arts. When we say play, therefore, we refer to that immense universe of activations and, in particular, their impact on the imagination. (read more)

The artists line-up is impressive and features plenty of practitioners that wok with digital game and video game aesthetics, including Raquel Meyers, Lu Yang, Maxim Zmeyev and 2girls1comp

LINK: Getxophoto International Image Festival 2024

EVENT: GEORGIE ROXBY SMITH (FEBRUARY 2 - 15 2024, ONLINE)

Blood Paintings

digital video, color, sound, 11’ 06”, 2024, Australia

Created by Georgie Roxby Smith

vral.org

 

Georgie Roxby Smith’s Blood Paintings series merges digital gaming spaces and physical art. Each piece comprises three distinct components: a machinima documenting repetitive violence against GTA V pedestrians, intimate selfies showcasing the finished abstract paintings that violence yields, and hybrid digital/physical prints combining in-game imagery with organic artistic styles. This unique, multi-format presentation offers insight into both the meticulous creative process and the provocative contrast between clinical virtual acts and tactile human artistry.

Georgie Roxby Smith is a pioneering digital artist who uses gaming, AI, video, and performance to probe modern identity and reality. Her work focuses on representing marginalized groups, especially women, in online environments. Artworks like The Fall Girl and 99 Problems [WASTED] expose violence against female video game characters, critiquing the misogyny embedded in gaming worlds. Smith’s bold, confrontational, socially-engaged art has exhibited globally and earned prestigious grants and residencies. As virtual and actual boundaries blur, her practice reveals hard truths about identity and systemic bias persisting digitally. Blending emerging tech and mass media, Smith dispels notions of liberation in our increasingly visual world. Her immersive works harbor the probing questions that will propel digital art to its next avant-garde evolution.

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GAME ART: DORIJAN ŠIŠKO AND SARA BEZOVŠEK

Sara Bezovšek and Dorijan Šiško are two young Slovenian artists who often collaborate on multimedia and game-based art projects. Their works demonstrate an interest in internet culture, social media, and exploring relevant socio-political themes through speculative worldbuilding.

Sara Bezovšek is a visual artist, active in the fields of new media, experimental film and graphic design. Her artistic practice is characterized by the exploration, collection and storage of mostly pop-cultural visual references from various online platforms, films and TV series. Using the cut/copy-and-paste technique, she combines the found digital material into web pages, collages, mashup videos, and the likes thus creating new narratives through appropriation and its documentation (see, for instance, www.false-utopia.com). In doing so, she is interested in what people view and share on social networks, how visual material travels the internet, how it changes and how it affects users. The dense amount of short clips from popular series and films, animated GIFs, internet memes, videos and other images from online platforms creates a multilayered infrastructure as the viewer can read a number of parallel, complementary and alternative narrative. Her expansive interactive projects like SND. An interactive story game and Life of Its Own immerse participants in apocalyptic and cinematic universes built out of the over-saturation of recognizable pop culture icons.

Dorijan Šiško, Critical Hit, 2022, installation shot Aksioma, Liublijana 

Dorijan Šiško, Critical Hit, 2022,video game

 

Šiško is a multimedia graphic designer and artist working heavily with games, VR, animation, and installations. His neon bright, layered style often remixes disparate elements into speculative worlds where he probes topics like fake news, internet radicalization, tribalism, gamification, and science fiction visions of the future. Šiško collaborated with Bezovšek on the installation What’s Your Truth: Tipping Point (2023) an interactive game space filled with ideological memes that aimed to encourage reflection on how the filter bubbles and biases we operate in can distort perception of truth.Another remarkable project is Critical Hit (2022), a "speculative video game that draws gallery visitors into a post-virtual vision o parallel reality", a kind of psychedelic walking simulator. Šiško is also active in the Freštreš art collective organizing joint exhibitions and the Nimaš Izbire music collective putting on events. He is the recipient of two awards of the Brumen Foundation: for the newspaper Tribuna and for the book Freštreš 10. His work has been exhibited in such institutions as Osmoza, KUD Kibla, Kino Šiška, Slovenian National Museum, Modern Gallery Ljubljana, MGLC, GT22, Jakopič Gallery, Out to See Festival in New York, etc.

Together, Bezovšek and Šiško’s collaborative new media art practice demonstrates an interdisciplinary interest in exploring the influence of internet culture and video games on society. By appropriating the visual language of social media and gaming and constructing interactive spaces filled with references to online phenomena, their works aim to reveal deeper truths about our digitally-mediated realities. Their critical, at time sinister, and yet playful style invites participation in collective meaning-making around relevant contemporary issues.

LINK: Sara Bezovšek

LINK: Dorijan Šiško

All images and videos courtesy of the Artists

EVENT: GLITCH: THE ART OF INTERFERENCE (DECEMBER 1 2023 - MARCH 17 2024, MUNICH, GERMANY)

Glitch: The Art of Interference

December 1 2023 - March 17 2024

Pinakothek der Moderne

Barer Str. 40, München, DE 80333

press release

Broken smartphone displays, crackling radio broadcasts, frozen images during a video call. Only when there is an interference is our attention directed to the nature of the technical media that surround us every day without, however, it becoming the centre of attention.

As one of the youngest and most unpredictable forms of art, “glitch art” specifically draws attention to the productive side of the flawed. Initially prevalent in the technical jargon of radio and television engineers in the 1950s, the term “glitch” (Early Modern High German: glitschen, meaning to glide or slither, or from the Yiddish gletshn, to slip or skid, to slide away) soon came to describe programming or graphic errors in the world of computer games. A glitch is thus the unexpected result of a malfunction that occurs not only in computer games but also in other digital software. In the art context, technical interference finds its immediate expression in the field of computer-generated images and digital work. However, its roots go back to the early days of the history of photography. As an artistic counter-movement to recognised forms of expression, the technical glitch takes its course from early photography via avant-garde film to video and sound art, as well as to digital image media and net art where glitches are intentionally provoked or deliberately programmed.

!Mediengruppe Bitnik and Sven König, Download Finished. The Art of Filesharing, 2006, Copyleft: !Mediengruppe Bitnik & Sven König

The special exhibition “Glitch” in the Pinakothek der Moderne, extending over an area of 1,200 square metres, explores and examines the “art of interference“ as a global phenomenon and, for the first time, looks at the historical origins of the “glitch art“ movement. A total of 50 international artists show how important it is to question norms and entrenched thought patterns, to confront us with innovative alternative ideas and, ultimately, render the invisible visible.

With works by Erwin Blumenfeld, Monika von Boch, Kilian Breier, Nick Briz, Broomberg & Chanarin, Chargesheimer, Pierre Cordier, Inge Dick, Christian Doeller, Maya Dunietz, Walter Ebenhofer, Jake Elwes, Jamie Faye Fenton, Ralf Filges, William Forsythe, Marc Foucault, Heinz Hajek-Halke, Fabian Hesse & Mitra Wakil, John Hilliard, Esther Hunziker, Lotte Jacobi, Gottfried Jäger, Arthur Jafa, JODI, Joan Jonas, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Ryoichi Kurokawa, !Mediengruppe Bitnik and Sven König, Rosa Menkman, Ugo Mulas, Mame-Diarra Niang, Carsten Nicolai, Kazuma Obara, Nam June Paik, Jiang Pengyi, Sondra Perry, Sigmar Polke, Timm Rautert, Man Ray, Johanna Reich, Evelyn Richter, Pipilotti Rist, Barry Stone, ariella tai, Wolfgang Tillmans, Raoul Ubac, Timm Ulrichs, Steina Vasulka, Peter Weibel

Curator: Franziska Kunze
Assistant Curator: Katrin Bauer

LINK: Glitch

GAME ART: YUCEF MERHI'S WHERE DO WE GO (2023)

Yucef Merhi, Where Do We Go, 2023
3 CRT TVs, Atari 2600 consoles, custom cartridges, Plexiglass furniture
31 x 59.5 x 34.5 in.

Yucef Merhi's thought-provoking installation Where Do We Go explores notions of physical confinement and mental freedom. The piece features three vintage CRT television sets with transparent casings, connected to Atari 2600 game consoles from 1977. Each console contains a custom cartridge programmed with one part of the central question that titles the work: "Where do we go/when we stay/in the same place?". The old-school game systems and their ponderous query sit atop two wide plexiglass pedestals, giving the impression that the technology floats in space.

Notably, Merhi acquired the televisions from prisons, where transparent-cased models were used to prevent contraband smuggling. This imbues the work with another layer of meaning tied to incarceration. Even confined to a cell, the human mind remains free to wander to new spaces through creative thought, imagination, and introspection. Merhi invites us to move around his installation and reflect on this interplay between physical restrictions and mental liberation. The blinking text onscreen reads like an existential mantra, while the visible interior workings of the TV sets symbolize the untethered workings of the mind. Ultimately, Where Do We Go investigates where the human spirit travels even when the body cannot, suggesting that new perspectives emerge whenever we quest inward.

installation view

Yucef Merhi is an interdisciplinary artist, poet, and programmer whose innovative works fuse technology, language, and philosophical ideas. Born in 1977 in Caracas, Venezuela, Merhi studied at the Universidad Central de Venezuela before moving to the United States to continue his education. He earned a bachelor's degree from the New School University in New York City, followed by a master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University. Merhi creates conceptually driven installations, sculptures, and digital works that engage electronic devices in unconventional ways. For example, his Poetic Clock converts the passage of time into computer-generated poetry, producing 86,400 unique poems daily. After establishing himself in the New York art scene over the past two decades, Merhi continues to push creative boundaries with his multidisciplinary practice today. His avant-garde works offer unique insight into the intersection between technology, poetry, and philosophy in the contemporary world.

LINK: Yucef Merhi

EVENT: DXP (DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PLANET) (OCTOBER 7 2023 - MARCH 17 2024 KANAZAWA CITY, JAPAN)

DXP (Digital Transformation Planet)
Towards the Next Interface

October 7, 2023–March 17, 2024
211st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
1 Chome-2-1 Hirosaka
Kanazawa, Ishikawa 9208509
Japan
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–6pm,
Friday–Saturday 10am–8pm

press release

Eating the digital!?
Technology that integrates with the body
How will digital technology change our way of life and sensibilities? This question has been asked repeatedly since the 20th century. In 2023, we may answer this question: a completely different planet is about to emerge. On this planet which has entered the Anthropocene, we are immersed in an invisible network. Our lives are partly (and getting more and more) controlled by AI, and the relationship between technology and life is being generated anew every day.

DXP is an exhibition/interface that brings together artists, architects, scientists, programmers, and others to capture this transformation across disciplines, understand what is happening now, and propose it as something that can be sensed. The contemporary realities of AI, metaverse, and big data are the technologies of the moment. DXP is a vision of the future that follows it, explores the possibility of a comprehensive way of life that includes food, clothes, and habitation.

Yuko Hasegawa, Yuu Takagi, Mio Harada, Yishu Hang, Jin Motohashi

Keiken, Installation design for Morphogenic Angels: Chapter 1 © Keiken

Featured artists:

AFROSCOE (Republic of Ghana)
・Refik Anadol (Turkey, USA)
・ANREALAGE (Japan)
・Shruti Belliappa & Kiraṇ Kumār (India)
・ GROUP (Japan)
・ HATRA+Yuma Kishi (Japan)
・ Keiken (Japan, U.K., Mexico)
・ Tomihiro Kono (Japan)
・MANTLE: Shu Isaka + Soshi Nakamura (Japan)
・Shoei Matsuda (Japan)
・David OReilly (Ireland)
・ Takashi Ikegami Laboratory, University of Tokyo (Supported by Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratory, University of Osaka)
・ VUILD (Japan)
・ Jonathan Zawada (Australia)

Radical pedagogy section:

・Merve Akdogan (Turkey)
・David Blandy (UK)
・DEF CON 26 (Germany)
・Bert Chan, Takashi Ikegami Laboratory, The University of Tokyo (Hong Kong, Japan)
・Sarah Ciraci (Italy)
・Homei Miyashita Laboratory, Meiji University (Japan)
・Emi Kusano (Japan)
・MANTLE: Shu Isaka+Soshi Nakamura (Japan)
・Till Nowak (Germany)
・Sputniko! (Japan)
・David OReilly (Ireland)

LINK: DXP

EVENT: ALEKSANDAR RADAN (NOVEMBER 24 - DECEMBER 7 2023, ONLINE)

This water gives back no water

3-channel video installation, 6:12 min, loop, 2017, Germany; hereby presented as a single-channel digital video

Created by Aleksandar Radan

Originally conceived as a 3-channel video installation, This water gives back no Images features a lush, tropical digital landscape created using modified scenes from Grand Theft Auto. We see palm trees bending in the wind and hear soft rustling sounds and bird chirps. An avatar moves through this landscape, wading into the water. As it bathes, the figure seems to dissolve into the ripples and reflections in the water, its contours blurring into the surroundings. About halfway through the video, a grainy black and white recording of Nina Simone singing “Images” (1966) appears embedded within the video game aesthetic. This water gives back no Images questions notions of identity and reflection within an increasingly digital world.

A German artist born in 1988, Aleksandar Radan studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach. His work explores digital media, focusing on themes of technological disconnection and virtual identities. Radan alters computer game environments through modding, filming live action footage within the modified spaces. His experimental short films juxtapose programmed avatars with improvised gestures, bringing the virtual and physical worlds into collision. Radan’s works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and Oberhausen International Short Film Festival.

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