GAMESCENES

EVENT: THE FIELDS OF ALGORITHMS (MAY 13 2021, ONLINE)

The Fields of Algorithms

Curated by David Blandy

Thursday 13 May 2021, 8PM

Online event 

The One Minutes Series for May and June explores how video games turn gamers into filmmakers with The Fields of Algorithms, a mixtape of poetic machinima, curated by David Blandy. The British artist will stream himself on Twitch playing video games while talking about game culture and its influence on his art practices and his live. The screening of The Fields of Algorithms will be followed by an open discussion with artists Benjamin Hall, Alejandra Morote Peralta and Alvaro Bretel, Ali Razzak, Iain Douglas, Adonis Archontides, Andy Nizinskyj, Petra Szemán, Chris Wicker and the audience on Twitch.

LINK: The One Minutes_The Fields of Algorithms

EVENT: FLORIAN HOFNAR KREPČIK (APRIL 30 - MAY 13 2021, ONLINE)

Florian Hofnar Krepčik

Is it real Love? Of course not!

April 30 - May 13 2021

Introduced by Matteo Bittanti

vral.org

Is it real love? Of course not! is a unique film entirely shot with/in Driver: San Francisco, a 2011 video game by Ubisoft set in the Bay Area. Organized around seven musical themes imbued with philosophical references and poetic gravitas, this hybrid movie is a distillation of magical moments. By layering images, sounds, and spoken words, the artist creates an unforgettable audio-visual experience. The “story” takes place in the chasm between spaces and characters: massive buildings, multi-lane roads, spectacular bridges, and anonymous pedestrians. Presented at several international festivals and exhibitions — including MU Hybrid Art House (2013), TENT Rotterdam, the Hamburg International Short Film Festival (2014), and HMKV, Dortmund Germany (2014) — Is it real love? Of course not! was also selected for the Best of Graduates 2013 exhibition at Ron Mandos gallery in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

A self-described film composer, Vienna-born artist Florian Hofnar Krepčik draws inspiration from opera, music, film, and theatre. After graduating in 2013 from St. Joost, Den Bosch in the Netherlands, Krepčik created a series of films informed by the logic of music and poetry, including Two Monasteries (2015). His audiovisual productions often follow the structure of a music composition. His stated intention is to recontextualize the cinematic through different media.

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EVENT: THE FIELD OF ALGORITHMS (MAY 13 2021, ONLINE)

Press release:

The One Minutes Series of May/June is ‘The Fields of Algorithms’ and is curated by David Blandy. ‘The Fields of Algorithms’ is a mixtape of poetic machinima lasting exactly one minute. The 23 selected videos were sent in from Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States. Five works were produced in a workshop at Sandberg Instituut, Masters of Art and Design in Amsterdam (NL).

Het Nieuwe Instituut will present the online premiere Thursday 13 May at 8pm CEST. David Blandy, Julia van Mourik (director of The One Minutes Foundation) and the participating artists will be (virtually) present on Twitch. Open discussion with the public is encouraged.
live.hetnieuweinstituut.nl

»When I originally asked for people’s poetic machinima, the pandemic was just beginning. Since then, the online world has increasingly become part of many people’s reality, some discovering the virtual space for the first time, others becoming even more immersed, as outside spaces become gated off. Machinima takes many forms, from the 3D swooping virtual cameras made possible in games like Red Dead Redemption 2 to the bold pixel graphics of early videogames. Video games are often dismissed, but as they become more ubiquitous it’s natural that these spaces become a place where we wonder at a vision of nature, or a suitable subject for a poem. Video games turns us all into directors, creating stories with our actions inside these gated realms, both a place for encounters with the sublime and a space to forge community. As the screening came together, it appeared there were two intertwined themes; of the political; and of personal identity. The virtual space is a place to reassess and to reform, both the self, and our vision of society. These products of capitalism, vessels of thousands of hours of labour, can become a space for satire and deconstruction, and the space to imagine and enact radical alternatives.« David Blandy

David Blandy is an artist working with pop-cultural spaces such as video games, tabletop RPGs and Twitch streams. He lives in these worlds to think about the stories that create our sense of self, and how these spaces can propose different models for collectivity, either in their narratives or in the cultures that surround them.

Participating artists:

Benjamin Hall
Yorgos Papafigos
Tessa Garland
Adonis Archontides and Androula Kafa
Andy Nizinskyj
Lila Catalina Rene Michelle
Peter Martin
Lena Windisch
Jamie Jankovic
Ali Razzak and Perry Heath
Iain Douglas
Benjamin Hall
Petra Szeman
Rene Francis McBrearty, Lila Bullen-Smith, Michelle Mildenberg and Catalina Reyes
Zuzana Banasinska and Noé Cottencin
Chris Wicker
Derk Over
Cesar Majorana, Mylou Oord, Sigrún Sveinsdóttir and Mateo Vega
Seren Lewis
John Powell-Jones
Alejandra Morote Peralta and Alvaro Bretel
Marian Rosa van Bodegraven, Siomara van Bochove, Eva Bosveld, Jeroen Exterkater and Allison Heniquez

‘The Fields of Algorithms’ was made possible by Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Pictoright Fund and Sandberg Instituut.

The One Minutes Foundation produces and distributes one-minute videos from an artistic point of view, offering an international stage for people to create, engage and connect.
Every two months, The One Minutes Foundation puts out a new series of 60-second films that investigate how we perceive and engage with moving image. Museums and cultural organisations around the world subscribe to the series.

LINK: ONE MINUTES FOUNDATION: The field of algorithms

EVENT: MATEUS DOMINGOS (APRIL 16 - APRIL 29 2021, ONLINE)

LAN PARTY NOTES

digital video (1280 x 720), sound, color, 10’ 20”, 2013 (United Kingdom)

Created by Mateus Domingos

VRAL

Introduced by Riccardo Retez

LAN Party was an installation originally created by Vanilla Galleries in collaboration with Arc-Vel and Dexter and Finbar Prior, at the Two Queens art gallery in Leicester, United Kingdom, in 2013. The work focuses on the concept of respawn which, in the context of video games, indicates the live creation of a character or item after its death or disappearance. Respawning creates and endless loop of (simulated) life and death. Vanilla Galleries’ work contextualizes such concept in a cultural re-generation perspective, where death and rebirth are visualized through a specific interface, the first-person shooter LAN party. A specially designed custom map has been created by the collective as a place for them to exist and work over a period of time. The installation comprises a number of computers inhabiting the main gallery space at Two Queens and visitors are invited to participate in the contest of the Cultural Deathmatch in order to perpetuate the ongoing cycle of life and death within the setting of the local area network.

Also known as ghostglyph, Mateus Domingos is an artist/writer based in Leicester, United Kingdom. He was a founding member and co-director of Leicester’s artist run gallery and studio space Two Queens. He is a member of Phoenix Interact Labs and manages the publishing project Bruise. He is interested in text, narrative and new digital spaces. His work has included games, 3D printing, fictional alphabets, maps and film making. In 2012 he represented the United Kingdom in Maribor, the European Capital of Culture and World Event Young Artist. Recent exhibitions include Two Queens, Leicester, Phoenix & De Montfort University, Leicester and Modern Painters, New Decorators, Loughborough. In parallel with his artistic practice, he is a producer for the digital arts program at Phoenix, Leicester. He works on artist development opportunities and hosts a series of meetups exploring digital arts practices. He collaborates with Sweden-based Nathan Bissette under the moniker Dead Hand to produce sound, music, and broadcasts. Recently they have released a book of scores and started producing an experimental podcast. He holds a BA in Fine Art from Loughborough University. He lives and works in Leicester.

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GAME ART: EWAN WILSON'S SUFFOCATION I (2021)

In this short machinima, Ewan Wilson examines the notion of asphyxia via Tomb Raider (1996). This work was originally featured in the second issue of video art magazine Emerge, 

As Wilson writes:

Two of the most common symptoms of anxiety and stress are shortness of breath and feelings of suffocation. In my work I wanted to illustrate overwhelming stress due to the surrounding environment through machinima using the 1996 video game Tomb Raider. Stress can be something addicting as it provides a natural high and I feel that this stress and this addiction can also be associated with a particular surrounding, even if it is somewhere familiar.

Emerge is a collective formed to give unestablished artists a space to display their work. Emerge will always be run as a non-profit. It is run by emerging artists, for emerging artists. Through our magazine, website and exhibition spaces, Emerge showcases contemporary Irish art.

LINK: Emerge magazine (Summer 2021 Open Call)

GAME ART: JORDY VEENSTRA'S IGNIIITION (2021)

 

Dutch artist and filmmaker Jordy Veenstra continue his bold investigation/reinvention of Quake III Arena (id Software, 1999) with another machinima (1920 x 816) that redefines the very boundaries of the medium. With IGNIIITION, Veenstra portraits a 1-vs-1 'Tournament' style duel within Quake III Arena, representing the three main characters (two fighters and the map itself, which far from being considered a prop or as etting is elevated to the role of the protagonist) within a single level, filmed from a multitude of angles and viewpoints. The result is a striking original visual experience that seems influenced by the avant garde aesthetics of Cubism and Expressionism. Vernstra modified the original game with the aids of mods such as Quake III Movie Maker's Edition 1.8, made by HMage, CaNaBiS, ent and auri, CPMA, by PlayMoreProMode and 'Trespass', a map created by Pat Howard. The result is destabilizing: IGNIIITION is both retro and futuristic. 

Jordy Veenstra is a video editor, motion graphics designer, 2D animator, and experimental filmmaker based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In his practice, Veenstra connects art and narrative with technology and software through the medium of experimental film. His work examines often overlooked social and artistic concerns. His groundbreaking Depthmap was featured in the The Weird, The Eerie, and The Unreal program of the 2020 MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL. He also exhibited his majestic Regression trilogy on VRAL.

LINK: Jordy Veenstra

EVENT: CARSON LYNN (APRIL 2 - APRIL 15 2021, ONLINE)

DEAR EIDOLON

digital video (1920 x 1080), color, sound, 5’ 58”, 2020 (United States of America)

Written, filmed, narrated, and scored by Carson Lynn

April 2 - April 15 2021

VRAL

Introduced by Luca Miranda

 

In a place where players and avatars coexist in apparent harmony, noticing the constraints and constrictions of game environments is not easy. Design choices, storytelling, and even marginal aspects like the physiognomy of a character are imbued with cultural values based on canons, stereotypes, and conventions. Dear Eidolon invites the viewer to become aware of these aspects and to extend the metaphorical frames of game design. Structured as a conversation between the artist and his avatar, this machinima poses many questions but provides few answers. It is the “user” who is tasked to fill the gaps. As Lynn writes, “By blurring the lines between gamespaces, I sought to explore my complex relationship to these virtual environments that serve as sites for both trauma and discovery.” Originally created for the ArtCenter College of Design Graduate Fellowship: Fall 2020 in Pasadena, California, Dear Eidolon was subsequently presented on the ArtCenter Graduate Art website as a virtual exhibition in February 2021

Carson Lynn uses digital content, sublime landscapes, and game environments to create artworks that propose a reinterpretation of photographic conventions and heterocentric game systems through the lens of queer theory. In 2020, he received an MFA and in 2015 a BFA in Photography and Imaging, both from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.

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CALL FOR ENTRIES: MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL 2022 (DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15, 2021)

The fifth edition of the MACHINIMA FILM FESTIVAL will once again take place at IULM University (Milan, Italy) during the Milano Digital Week, which celebrates the driving forces that are reshaping art, culture, and technology of Italy’s most vibrant city.

Filmmakers and video artists engaged in the practice of appropriating, repurposing, and remixing video games are encouraged to send us their work for consideration. All submissions will be judged by an international panel of jurors comprising scholars, curators, and critics. A Critics' Choice Award will be awarded to the most groundbreaking work.

Screenings of selected machinima will be curated around different themes and presented in different sections. The most interesting submissions are those which seek to capture or highlight a specific facet of contemporary life, from politics to art, from violence to creativity, from technology to ideology, through the aesthetic lenses of digital gaming.

The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2021

The full program will be announced in February 2022

Please carefully read our simple submission guidelines and requirements below before sending your work.

INTERNATIONAL OPEN CALL FOR NEW MEDIA ARTWORKS GUIDELINES:

The MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL defines machinima as any digital video made using video games technology (game engines, game tools, assets such as characters, items, environments etc.).

Submissions must feature machinima made with specifically with video games (not virtual worlds, e.g. Second Life).

Submissions must be 10 minutes or less in length. The minimum duration is 2 minutes.

Submissions must have been produced between January 1, 2021 and December 15, 2021.

Multiple versions of the same machinima will not be considered.

Acceptable submission formats: Digital video files only.

Acceptable exhibition formats: mp4, avi, mpg, Quicktime file (ProRes 422).

All applicants must complete the official festival submission form located on filmfreeway.com

One-time, nominal submission fee: 15 euros payable via PayPal to the festival organizers. Submissions that have not been accepted will not be refunded.

The applicant holds the sole responsibility of copyright clearance of any copyrighted material in the machinima.

The submission must include an accompanying artist statement/description and a biography no longer than 500 words.

The MMF is under no obligation to provide comments regarding submitted machinima to any applicant.

Submission deadline: December 15, 2021

Click the button to begin the process

LINK: MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL

BOOK: EDDIE LOHMEYER'S UNSTABLE AESTHETICS GAME ENGINES AND THE STRANGENESS OF MODDING (2021)

Eddie Lohmeyer
Unstable Aesthetics Game Engines and the Strangeness of Modding
Bloomsbury Academic, 2021

Description:

Throughout the 1990s, artists experimented with game engine technologies to disrupt our habitual relationships to video games. They hacked, glitched, and dismantled popular first-person shooters such as Doom (1993) and Quake (1996) to engage players in new kinds of embodied activity. In Unstable Aesthetics: Game Engines and the Strangeness of Art Modding, Eddie Lohmeyer investigates historical episodes of art modding practices-the alteration of a game system's existing code or hardware to generate abstract spaces-situated around a recent archaeology of the game engine: software for rendering two and three-dimensional gameworlds.

The contemporary artists highlighted throughout this book-Cory Arcangel, JODI, Julian Oliver, Krista Hoefle, and Brent Watanabe, among others –- were attracted to the architectures of engines because they allowed them to explore vital relationships among abstraction, technology, and the body. Artists employed a range of modding techniques-hacking the ROM chips on Nintendo cartridges to produce experimental video, deconstructing source code to generate psychedelic glitch patterns, and collaging together surreal gameworlds-to intentionally dissect the engine's operations and unveil illusions of movement within algorithmic spaces. Through key moments in game engine history, Lohmeyer formulates a rich phenomenology of video games by focusing on the liminal spaces of interaction among system and body, or rather the strangeness of art modding.

A must read!

LINK: Unstable Aesthetics

LINK: Eddie Lohmeyer

EVENT: COLL.EO (FEBRUARY 12 - FEBRUARY 25 2021)

REASONABLE_3

digital video (1920 x 1080), sound, color, 3’ 33”, 2020 (United States/Italy)

Created by COLL.EO

VRAL

February 12 - February 25 2021

Introduced by Random Parts

Volatile. Fiery. Flaming. Heated. In flames. Sizzling. Gleaming. Alight. Ignited. Automobile. Car. Wagon. Truck. Van. Law Enforcement. Siren. Horn. Warning. Brawl. Storm. Disturbance. Turbulence. Turmoil. Uproar. Commotion. Emergency. Scene. Shots. Scream. Screech. Howl. Wail. 

COLL.EO is a collaboration between Colleen Flaherty and Matteo Bittanti established in 2012 which operates in San Francisco and Milan. COLL.EO creates boldly unoriginal media artworks, uncreative mobile sculptures, and uniquely derivative conceptual pieces. With the use of appropriated materials borrowed from a day-to-day context, COLL.EO has developed a filthy rich visual vocabulary addressing artistic, social, and political issues. COLL.EO generates situations in which everyday objects - often toys and games - are altered or detached from their original contexts. Sometimes they appear idiosyncratic and quirky, at other times sinister and morbid, like most by-products of American superabundance and pervasive marketing.

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