GAMESCENES

CFA: NOUVELLE BUG VOL. 3 (DEADLINE: JUNE 15 2024)

Il Varco and Lago Film Fest are delighted to announce the third edition of the internationally acclaimed residency, Nouvelle Bug. This unique program is dedicated to the exploration and production of cinema within the realms of video games and Artificial Intelligence. Set against the picturesque backdrop of Revine Lago, this intensive week-long experience combines webinars and live lessons designed to immerse participants in the experimental frontier of Cinema. Under the guidance of the most renowned filmmakers in this niche, attendees will not only gain invaluable insights but also actively engage in the creation of avant-garde short films. Arrive with ideas and leave with a masterpiece that pushes the boundaries of traditional filmmaking.

The workshop is designed to familiarize participants with cutting-edge techniques, supporting them through the development and production phases of their short film projects. Moreover, these projects will have the opportunity to compete for awards offered by prestigious partners such as Gargantua Distribution, Gioia Film, Sayonara Film, and Lago Film Fest.

Participants will explore new aesthetics and solutions introduced by the widespread use of artificial intelligence, learning to adopt a machine-like perspective. This approach not only opens up new vistas for storytelling but also prompts a reflection on humanity’s god-like role in software creation and its implications for our future.

Through this workshop, filmmakers will embark on a journey to discover and harness the unique narrative power of digital worlds, translating them into compelling cinematic experiences. Nouvelle Bug stands as a beacon for those eager to pioneer the fusion of technology and art, offering a platform to redefine the essence of storytelling in the digital age.

TUTORS

The tutors for the workshop include:

• Andrea Gatopoulos, a Rome-based film producer and director with a background in Modern Literature from Sapienza University, Rome. His work, which explores virtual environments, includes the project Bit-Reality and the short film Happy New Year, Jim, presented at the 54th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes. His productions have been featured in over 100 festivals worldwide, such as Cannes, Venice, Rotterdam, and Camerimage.

• Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis, an artist and filmmaker trained at Le Fresnoy, known for exploring the intersection of identity, technology, and the virtual world. His work Maalbeek,a deep dive into the fragmented memory of a Brussels terrorist attack victim, was selected for the 59th La Semaine de la Critique and won the 2022 César for Best Short Documentary.

• Total Refusal Crew, a pseudo-Marxist media guerrilla group focusing on the artistic intervention within mainstream video games to expose their underlying political messages. Their films have been showcased at numerous festivals, including Berlinale and Locarno, and their research has been featured in museums and art fairs globally.

• Gala Hernández López, an artist filmmaker and researcher applying a feminist and critical perspective to analyze discourses within virtual communities. Her film La Mécanique des fluides won the 2024 César for Best Documentary Short Film and the 2023 Experimental Work Award from la Scam (France), among other accolades. She regularly conducts workshops and lectures at prestigious institutions and festivals.

IMPORTANT DATES

March 28th 2024 Opening of the call for entries

June 15th 2024 Closing of the call for entries

June 28th 2024 Announcement of the 30 selected directors

August 18th 2024 Start of the workshop

October 1st 2024Selection of the winning project

Learn more

Apply

EVENT: MMF MMXXIV (MARCH 11-17 2024, MILAN, ITALY)

press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Milan Machinima Festival MMXXIV unveils groundbreaking programs for 2024 edition

Milan, Italy - The Milan Machinima Festival MMXXIV is thrilled to announce its highly anticipated programs for the 2024 edition, showcasing the best in machinima art from around the world. The festival will feature four unique programs: Auteur Theory, Game Video Essay, Made in Italy, and Slot Machinima.

This year, a concurrent event is FOTOLUDICA, the first Italian conference on in-game photography (March 14-15 2024). Both are free and open to the public.

The Game Video Essay program will present thought-provoking pieces by Cat Bluemke and Jonathan Carroll, Guilhem Causse, Ekiem Barbier, and Quentin L'helgoualc’h, Gina Hara, and Yemen Liu that explore the intersection of gaming and critical analysis. These works delve into the cultural, social, and political implications of video games, offering fresh perspectives on the medium and its impact on society. The program aims to foster a deeper understanding of the potential of video games as a tool for artistic expression and social commentary. The Game Video Essay program will be screened on Thursday March 14, 2024, in the Sala dei 146 (IULM 6).

Made in Italy will celebrate the ingenuity and craft of young Italian machinima artists. This program features three films that showcase unique aesthetics and styles, highlighting the vibrant and thriving Italian machinima art scene. The featured filmmakers, Alberto Calleo, Simone Fiorentino, and Elia "marasma" Strazzacappa, utilize real-time computer graphics engines to craft artworks that challenge traditional notions of cinema and transgress the boundaries between virtual and real-world spaces. Made in Italy will be screened on Friday March 15, 2024, in the Sala dei 146 (IULM 6).

The Auteur Theory program will highlight three exceptional works by leading machinima creators — Jacky Connolly, Lawrence Lek, and Total Refusal — examining the role of the individual artist in shaping the medium. This program celebrates the unique visions and styles of these artists, emphasizing their distinctive contributions to the field of machinima. The Author Theory program will be screened on Friday March 15, 2024 in the Sala dei 146 (IULM 6).

The Contemporary Exhibition Hall will host Slot Machinima, an immersive program featuring eight video installations that will be presented in a loop from March 11-15, 2024, featuring works by renowned artists such as Adonis Archontides, Steven Cottingham, Kara Güt, Thomas Hawranke, Andy Hughes, Carson Lynn, Stephan Panhans and Andrea Winkler, and Bram Ruiter. This special program is designed to immerse viewers in often absurd and deranged virtual environments within the video game imaginary, showcasing the incredible range and depth of avant-garde machinima.

“We are excited to present these groundbreaking programs that showcase the incredible talent and diversity within the machinima avant-garde community,” said festival director Matteo Bittanti. “The Milan Machinima Festival MMXXIV aims to push the boundaries of what is possible with this medium and inspire both artists and audiences alike. Through these four distinct programs, we hope to foster a deeper appreciation for the art of machinima and its potential to shape our understanding of the world around us.”

These year’s submission were judged by an international panel of scholars, critics, artists, and curators: Marco De Mutiis, Henry Lowood, Jenna Ng, and Martin Zeilenger.

The poster of the 2024 edition was designed by artist and musician Babak Ahteshamipour. Babak’s vivid new poster design epitomizes the festival’s ethos of propelling machinima into unmapped creative frontiers. Electrifying colors and fantastical shapes blend gaming visuals with mysterious organic shapes, suggesting unexpected artistic dimensions virtual worlds could unlock.

For more information about the Milan Machinima Festival MMXXIV and its programs, please visit the official website at https://milanmachinimafestival.org

About Milan Machinima Festival:

The Milan Machinima Festival MMXXIV is an annual celebration of the art of machinima, featuring works by established and emerging artists from around the world. The festival aims to promote the creative potential of real-time computer graphics engines and foster a global community of machinima creators and enthusiasts.

Contact:

Artistic director: Matteo Bittanti

Communication Manager: Colleen Flaherty

IULM Eventi: Caterina Angeretti

Directions to IULM University

News:

For updates, follow us on Patreon, Instagram, Twitter/X and the Festival’s website.

More:

Would you like to get involved? Drop us a line!

EVENT: 30 LIVES (JANUARY 31 - MARCH 31 2024, MANILA, PHILIPPINES)

30 LIVES

31 January to 31 March 2024

Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design, GF De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Design + Arts Campus, Dominga Street, Malate, Manila, 1004

Free to the public, the museum is open Tuesdays–Saturdays, 10 AM–6 PM; and Sundays, 10 AM–2 PM, except holidays.

An art world "extra life" arrives as the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila opens 30 Lives—the famed trove of bonus chances that unfold in video games upon keying the fabled "Konami code." Metaphorically, the exhibition explores society's myriad approaches toward play and gaming, those immersive escapes governed either loosely (play) or firmly (games) by boundaries and social contracts. Such temporary spheres divert attention from daily tedium, constructing pockets—be they physical spaces like courts or conceptual ones like board and video games—where critique and subversion germinate.

LuYang, Wrathful King Kong Core, 14' 48", 2013.

From 31 January through 31 March 2024, 30 Lives beckons audiences into this fertile terrain to traverse temporalities: from antique pastimes to video art harnessing gaming's storytelling power for philosophical ends. Long derided for frivolity, these mediums emerge as vital crucibles. Featured works by Harun Farocki (Parallel I-IV, 2012-2014), Lu Yang (Wrathful King Kong Core, 2013), Heecheon Kim (Cutter III, 2023), Ikoy Ricio (Drop Dead or Die) and Miguel Inumerable are complemented by original games developed by De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde's Interactive Entertainment and Multimedia Computing program.

Ultimately, the exhibition dares viewers to locate themselves across spectra from delight to challenge, skill to memory, strategy to knowledge, simulation to dystopia, roleplay to narrative indulgence, and all liminal spaces between.

LINK: 30 LIVES

EVENT: HUI WAI-KEUNG (FEBRUARY 16 - 29 2024, ONLINE)

Parallel V

digital video, single-channel-projection, color, sound, 26’ 14”, 2023, Hong Kong

Created by Hui Wai-Keung

World premiere

 

Conceived by Hui Wai-Keung as a tribute to Harun Farocki, Parallel V is a continuation of his seminal Parallel I-IV series investigating the operational logic of computer games. The point of departure for Hui is a statement by the late German director on the computer-controller characters’ tendency to repeat the same actions over and over again: “This tragedy revealed the limitations of human freedom of action”. Hui discovered that all NPCs seem trapped in a time-space bond with the player, a relationship of ontological dependence. NPCs live life-like existences; repetitions are inevitable in their simulated lives. And yet, Hui suggests, the algorithmic bounds of games are not absolute, and NPCs still encounter contingencies. Thus, both NPCs and human beings might be better off following Friedrich Nietzsche’s admonition, embracing rather than rejecting repetition.

Hui Wai-Keung is a Hong Kong-born cross-disciplinary artist currently pursuing a PhD in Art Creation and Theory at Tainan National University of the Arts in Taiwan. Hui received his MFA from the School of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong and studied at the Hong Kong Art School. In recent years he has focused especially on game art and algorithmic art, exploring visual possibilities in digital hyperspace. Hui has exhibited widely in solo and group shows in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Finland, Italy and the USA. Hui has completed artist residencies in Germany, Finland, South Korea, and Japan. Currently based in Taiwan, Hui continues to exhibit and conduct research into narrative, algorithms, possibility, contingency, reenactment, and history.

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EVENT: FIRST ITALIAN CONFERENCE ON IN-GAME PHOTOGRAPHY (MARCH 14-15 2024, MILAN, ITALY)

Thursday March 14 and Friday March 15 2024, 10 AM - 1 PM

Sala dei 146, IULM 6

Università IULM

Via Carlo Bo, 2 20143 Milano

In English and Italian

Free entry/Ingresso libero— advance registration is recommended/prenotazione consigliata

contact: Matteo Bittanti [email protected]

Directions

 

Fotoludica is the first Italian conference dedicated to examining the burgeoning artistic practice of in-game photography and machinima. Across two days of talks, presentations and discussions, creators, researchers and theorists explore the complex intersection of video games, photography, copyright law, activism and visual culture.

A keystone of the event is discussing in-game photography as an emergent art form, looking at how players leverage tools ranging from photo modes to hacking screenshots to produce dynamic images. Presentations analyze works by artists like Boris Camaca, Leonardo Magrelli, Simone Santilli and Adonis Archontides, uncovering conceptual depth within gaming spaces. Legal questions also take center stage regarding whether player-created screenshots can be considered proprietary artwork or remain protected as game developer assets.

Additional topics trace photography’s usage as architectural visualization rendered through speculative Minecraft builds. Presentations also cover documenting in-game performance art and interventions as contemporary extensions of war photography traditions. Throughout the event, speakers highlight how rendering gaming environments through a photographic lens reveals underlying themes related to violence, labor exploitation and colonial ideologies.

Featured speakers apply lenses — no pun intended — spanning art history, visual culture, game development, software studies and internet law. Keynotes include Marco De Mutiis discussing “Playable Imaging” and the uneasy combination of image-creation and play. Artist Joseph DeLappe joins scholar Laura Leuzzi in conversation around artifacts created through his daring in-game interventions. Additional highlights involve a series of panel discussions moderated by Matteo Bittanti and Marco De Mutiis focused on questioning boundaries of creativity, authorship and ethics tied to photographic practices using proprietary game engines and assets.

By gathering voices from game studies, art, law and beyond, Fotoludica seeks to cement in-game photography as a serious art form while unpacking vital questions through multidisciplinary dialogue. The event also solidifies IULM University’s pivotal role in advancing photography focused game studies research.

Ultimately the conference provides vital scholarly infrastructure legitimizing artistic interrogation of games using techniques from photography to machinima.

LINK: Fotoludica

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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RESEARCH: GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S) (2024)

Theo Triantafyllidis, Radicalization Pipeline, live simulation, 2021 (still) Courtesy of the artist

GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S)

Principal investigators: Matteo Bittanti (Dipartimento di Arti, Media e Spettacolo “Giampaolo Fabris”, Università IULM, Milano), Valentino Catricalà (School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University), Paolo Ruffino (Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool)

Description: Game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine have undergone significant evolution over the past decade, transitioning from tools primarily designed for digital video technology to versatile instruments in various creative and scientific domains. Initially conceived for 3D digital simulation, these engines now offer the capability to produce interactive three-dimensional renderings and simulations in a broad range of settings. This transformation reflects the influence of Hollywood's visual effects on disciplines like architecture and fashion, indicating the pervasive impact of contemporary visual culture on the modern film industry.

Unity and Unreal Engine have become indispensable tools for a growing number of contemporary artists. Their advanced computer graphics functionalities enable the creation of intricate virtual worlds, fostering new forms of interaction and artistic expression. These engines are particularly notable in the realm of immersive 3D site-specific installations, where they facilitate experiences of virtual reality and augmented reality. Prominent artists such as Lawrence Lek, Cao Fei, LaTurbo Avedon, Rachel Rossin, Mario Klingemann, Jakob Kudsks Steensen, and Theo Triantafyllidis have leveraged these platforms to pioneer a new expressive tradition in modern and contemporary art, one that is inherently transmedial and transcultural.

However, it's essential to acknowledge the specific aesthetic and commercial interests of leading brands like Unity and Epic Games. Their commitment to simplifying and standardizing the 3D creative process plays a critical role in the industry. By attracting a diverse range of artistic expressions, these game engines foster new paradigms of creativity while navigating the complex interplay between technological innovation and artistic vision.

Ian Cheng, Emissaries, 2015-2017, live simulation, 2022 (still) Courtesy of the artist

Goals: The GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S) research project integrates fieldwork and data collection to examine the role of game engines in contemporary visual culture. This collaboration between Università IULM di Milano, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Liverpool includes panels and workshops aimed at advancing research and exploring the impact of game engines on visual arts, both nationally and internationally.

The first event is on December 1, 2023 at the University of Liverpool, with similar workshops following at IULM and Manchester Metropolitan. These events serve as catalysts for research within the program.

A key outcome is an Italian publication offering original contributions from academics, curators, artists and critics specializing in digital and visual culture. This volume provides an updated overview of art influenced by game engines, including critiques and visions for the field. The publication reinforces IULM's position as a leading research center on digital aesthetics and emerging cultural practices.

The program critically examines game engines' influence on visual arts, considering computer graphics' pivotal role. It addresses crucial questions around authorship, accessibility, and sustainability in digital artistic production.

This international collaboration among IULM, Liverpool and Manchester Metropolitan represents a significant contribution to contemporary art discourse by exploring creative possibilities and conditions of artistic expression within game engines.

The project's primary goal is to critically map the current use of game engines in visual arts. This approach, at the intersection of media studies, game studies, platform studies and contemporary art, involves both analysis and prototype creation under artist and practitioner guidance. The investigation aims to preserve artistic integrity within the global digital ecosystem by engaging artists, curators and critics in comprehensive dialogue.

LINK: GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S)

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English above

GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S)

Team e ricercatori: Matteo Bittanti (Dipartimento di Arti, Media e Spettacolo “Giampaolo Fabris”, Università IULM, Milano), Valentino Catricalà (School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University), Paolo Ruffino (Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool)

Jakob Kudsks Steensen, Dome of Gated Ecologies, 2017, VR, duration 3 minutes

Descrizione: I motori dei videogiochi come Unity e Unreal Engine si sono evoluti significativamente nell’ultimo decennio: da strumenti pensati esclusivamente per lo sviluppo di videogiochi sono oggi diventati piattaforme versatili onnipresenti nelle arti digitali. Originariamente progettati per snellire lo sviluppo 3D delle simulazioni digitali, questi motori forniscono ora potenti capacità di rendering tridimensionale interattivo e simulazione che sono state adottate da una vasta gamma di settori creativi e di ricerca scientifica. Dagli effetti visivi di Hollywood all’architettura e alla moda, i motori di gioco stanno ora plasmando molteplici aspetti della cultura visiva contemporanea. Unreal Engine e Unity sono diventati strumenti indispensabili per un numero crescente di artisti contemporanei. Queste piattaforme software forniscono funzionalità di computer grafica avanzate che permettono di generare mondi virtuali interattivi e coinvolgenti.
Molti artisti stanno adottando Unreal Engine e Unity per creare installazioni 3D immersive site-specific oppure esperienze in realtà virtuale e aumentata; tra gli esempi più significativi spiccano Lawrence Lek, Cao Fei, LaTurbo Avedon, Rachel Rossin, Mario Klingemann, Jakob Kudsks Steensen, Theo Triantafyllidis e molti altri. In sintesi, il linguaggio interattivo e generativo reso possibile da questi motori sta aprendo inedite traiettorie espressive per l’arte moderna e contemporanea, in direzione transmediale e transculturale.
Tuttavia, attori leader come Unity ed Epic Games veicolano anche specifiche inclinazioni estetiche e interessi commerciali. La promessa di semplificare i processi 3D promuove omogeneità stilistica se applicata acriticamente. In altre parole, i motori di gioco rischiano di appiattire la diversità espressiva artistica nonostante abilitino nuovi paradigmi creativi.

Lawrence Lek, Thetha, CGI video, 12’, stereo sound, 2022 (still) Per gentile concessione dell’artista

Approfondimenti: Il progetto GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S) prevede una ricerca sul campo e la raccolta di dati che si svolgerà simultaneamente presso l'Università IULM di Milano, la Manchester Metropolitan University e la University of Liverpool. In ciascuno degli atenei verranno organizzati panel e workshop per facilitare il dibattito con esperti di rilievo nazionale e internazionale sui temi dell'influenza dei motori di gioco nella cultura visiva contemporanea.
Il primo di questi eventi è previsto per il 1 dicembre 2023 presso la University of Liverpool; successivamente saranno replicati workshop simili presso la IULM e la Manchester Met. Questi incontri fungeranno da catalizzatori di riflessione critica durante il progetto di ricerca.
I risultati della ricerca sul campo confluiranno nella pubblicazione di un volume in lingua italiana che raccoglierà contributi originali non solo degli studiosi delle tre università ma anche di curatori, artisti e critici indipendenti impegnati sui temi del digitale e della cultura visuale. Il volume ambisce a fornire una mappa aggiornata sullo stato dell’arte dell'utilizzo dei motori di gioco nelle arti, individuando sfide critiche e traiettorie future. La pubblicazione costituirà un unicum nel panorama italiano e consoliderà la posizione di IULM quale centro di ricerca all'avanguardia su digitale, estetica e pratiche culturali emergenti.
È dunque giustificata un’analisi critica dell'influenza di queste piattaforme sulle arti visive, considerando il loro ruolo centrale nella computer grafica moderna. In effetti la loro diffusione
solleva interrogativi rilevanti circa autorialità, accessibilità, sostenibilità nella produzione artistica digitalizzata.
Questo progetto di ricerca internazionale tra IULM, University of Liverpool e Manchester Metropolitan University esamina il potenziale a doppio taglio dell’onnipresenza dei motori grafici nell’arte contemporanea. Se da un lato essi espandono le possibilità creative, i loro condizionamenti estetici e funzionali standardizzano anche l'espressione artistica in modi raramente esplorati.
L’obiettivo fondamentale del progetto è mappare criticamente l’uso attuale di questi strumenti nelle arti visive, attraverso un approccio di ricerca che si colloca all’intersezione tra media studies, game studies, platform studies e arte contemporanea. Inoltre, tramite analisi e creazione di prototipi sotto la supervisione di artisti e praticanti, il progetto investiga come preservare l'autorialità artistica all’interno di complessi ecosistemi digitali, coinvolgendo artisti, curatori, critici.

LINK: GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S)

EVENT: BRAM RUITER (JANUARY 19 - FEBRUARY 1 2024, ONLINE)

Endless Sea

digital video, color, sound, 6’ 59”, 2015 (2023), The Netherlands

Created by Bram Ruiter

January 19- February 1 2024

Introduced by Matteo Bittanti

vral.org

 

Bram Ruiter’s experimental 2015 work Endless Sea was originally shot with/in a modified version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games, 2004). Yet rather than depicting the crime simulations and violence the game was originally designed for, Ruiter harnesses expanded weather and free camera tools to craft an oneiric aesthetic experience outside gameplay norms. Through prismatic neon haze and perpetual storms visualized with heightened cinematic focus, the 6-minute conceptual work inhabits an ambivalent space between the game’s assumed freedoms and underlying restrictions. As the perspective drifts, glides, pursues unknown figures through the deserted streets, a disquieting sense of surveillance, pursuit and entrapment permeates the mood. Repeated cryptic references to the endless sea itself seems to signal the infinite confines of San Andreas, though whether the despairing urge to break free springs from the player or the lone avatar remains ambiguous. Ultimately Ruiter undermines the promised openness of Rockstar Games’ sandbox architecture by exposing its boundaries through tonal manipulation. Endless Sea is presented on VRAL in a never-seen-before, 2023 remastered edition.

Bram Ruiter is an experimental filmmaker based in Zwolle, the Netherlands, who creates collage-like cinematic morphologies that examine themes of creation, contradictions, labor, and the unfinished or incomplete. Fascinated by marginal objects and obsolescent procedures, his work incorporates non-traditional materials and broken aesthetics. Ruiter's films have screened internationally at festivals including the Viennale, Karlovy Vary, Pesaro Film Fest, Fantastic Fest Austin, A.Maze Berlin, and the Netherlands Film Festival. Ruiter also teaches filmmaking at ArtEZ University of the Arts, both at graduate and undergraduate level. 

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CALL FOR ENTRIES: FILE FESTIVAL 2024 (DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 10 2024, BRAZIL)

FILE Call for Entries 2024 – Electronic Language International Festival

The FILE Call for Entries 2024 is officially open! This is an extraordinary opportunity for artists and technologists to showcase their innovative and original works at the prestigious Electronic Language International Festival – FILE.

FILE 2024 seeks to explore the intersection of art and technology, inviting submissions from both Brazilian and international artists. The curators are looking for groundbreaking works in a variety of categories:

- Interactive Installations: Engage the audience with immersive and interactive experiences.
- Sound Art: Explore the boundaries of music and sound in the digital era.
- Video Art: Push the limits of storytelling through moving images.
- Robotics: Blend art with robotics to create dynamic and thought-provoking pieces.
- Animations: Bring your digital narratives to life with cutting-edge animation techniques.
- Virtual Reality: Offer a glimpse into alternate realities with innovative VR experiences.
- Augmented Reality: Blend the digital and physical worlds in creative ways.
- Games: Craft interactive experiences that merge artistry with gameplay.

This festival is not just an exhibition but a platform for the fusion of art and technology, fostering a community of creative minds who are shaping the future of digital culture. The curators encourage submissions that challenge conventions and offer new perspectives on technology's role in contemporary art.

Submissions are open until February 10th, 2024. Don't miss this chance to be a part of a global community of innovative artists and technologists.

For more information and to submit your work, please visit the official website.

LINK: FILE 2024

EVENT: STEFAN PANHANS AND ANDREA WINKLER (JANUARY 5 - 18 2024, ONLINE)

4K video, single-channel-projection, color, sound, 16’ 13”, 2016-2017, Germany

Created by Stefan Panhans and Andrea Winkler 

January 5 - 18 2024

Introduced by Matteo Bittanti

vral.org

 

Freeroam À Rebours, Mod#I.1 is a 16-minute video work combining experimental film, music video, performance, and contemporary dance which examines the stilted behaviors and motions of avatars controlled by humans in video games. The avatars demonstrate awkward gestures, repetitive motions, and failures to perform actions. Groups of live dancers and actors physically reenact these movements in a series of situations. Their bodies recreate the avatars’ gestures and repetitions. The performers interact with constructed sets and environments that resemble video game aesthetics. The scenes cut rapidly between the choreographed reenactments and footage excerpted from the games, literally juxtaposing the human and the post-human.

Stefan Panhans and Andrea Winkler explore contemporary media and its effects on the mind and body through video, photography, installation, and text. Panhans (born in Hattingen, Germany) undertakes a mental archaeology of hyper mediatization and digitalization, examining their influence on the mind and power relations in society. His work also engages with racism, celebrity worship, stereotypes, and diversity. He studied at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg. Winkler (born in Fällanden, Zurich, Switzerland) examines similar themes through sculpture, video, and installation. She studied at Slade School of Fine Art in London under John Hilliard and Bruce McLean, after completing a degree in Visual Communication at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg under Wolfgang Tillmans and Gisela Bullacher. Together, the duo create interdisciplinary works that critically investigate contemporary media culture and human-technology interactions through experimental aesthetics. Their collaborations take the form of video, performance, and installation.

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