GAMESCENES

GAME ART: MOTSONIAN'S COLONY COLLAPSE (BECAUSE BEES DON’T CARE WHAT HUMANS THINK IS IMPOSSIBLE) (2018)

Monica Maria Rohtmaa aka Motsonian's latest project shows interactions on VRchat, a massively multiplayer online virtual reality video game. performs as Motsonian as Barry Benson from Bee Movie (2007), documenting the VRchat community’s meme culture via the strange popularity of the character’s “Ya like jazz?” catchphrase as a conversation starter. Colony Collapse has been exhibited in Halfway to Somewhere, a group show by the Collective Studio (29.09.18 – 27.10.18) in Newbridge Project Gateshead. A preview can be seen here.

Motsonian is the username for Monica Maria Rohtmaa, an artist based in Gateshead, UK. As well as working with video, her practice combines contemporary technology with sculptural installation by using virtual reality, concepts from video games and drone footage to create installations about the intersection of the physical and virtual worlds. Recent work also uses projected video onto physical structures, in reference to what’s known in 3D digital environments as texture mapping, along with the visual symbol of knitting, a tradition drawn from her Estonian heritage, as a metaphor for a video game aim system or player’s view.

LINK: Motsonian

Event: Virtual Insanity (August 3 - November 18, 2018, Mainz, Germany)

Virtual Insanity
08/03/18—11/18/18 
Kunsthalle Mainz
Am Zollhafen 3-5, 55118 Mainz, Germany

Featured artists:

Antoine Catala
Cao Fei
Jon Rafman
Jordan Wolfson
Harun Farocki
Eva & Franco Mattes
Refrakt &
Nicole Ruggiero & Molly Soda
Renaud Jerez
Igor Simić
Tabita Rezaire

“And now that things are
changing for the worse
see, it‘s a crazy world were living in
And I just can‘t see that half of us
immersed in sin
Is all we have to give these
Futures made of virtual insanity now
Always seem to, be governed
by this love we have
For useless, twisting, our new technology
Oh, now there is no sound, for we all live underground” (Jamiroquai)

Installation View: Eva und Franco Mattes, My Generation, 2010, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Schweiz, Photo: Christian Schwager

Virtual Insanity was the title of the song with which
Jamiroquai stormed the international music charts in
1996. The song heralded the dawn of a new era,
capturing its spirit both vocally and tonally. The
accompanying video has taken on legendary status
for its use of what at the time were spectacular images
to encapsulate the feeling of having the rug pulled
from under your feet, and the instability of people and
situations. While the term “virtual insanity” itself has
not stood the test of time, its meaning certainly has.
The accelerating slide into virtual realities is leading
to ever more sensory disorders, escapism and
brutalization. Simulator sickness or motion sickness is
the name given to the exhaustion and dizziness
experienced when someone’s actual physical
movements do not match what they visually perceive –
for instance, when wearing VR glasses. Thanks to VR
glasses, augmented reality applications, and perhaps
special contact lenses soon, too, the future has long
conquered the present.

Video Still: Cao Fei (SL avatar: China Tracy), Live in RMB City, 2009, Courtesy of the Artist and Vitamin Creative
 

Computer-communicated realities, mixing real and
virtual realities, extending our real surroundings with
additional artificial elements such as avatars or
virtual objects – these are all spaces for encountering
something entirely new, where human perception and
experience can be changed and expanded. They are
just a few examples to demonstrate that our reality is
steadily growing – and how it is doing so. Scientists
have already started attempting to redefine the
concept of “reality” – in a much freer and more
general sense as whatever makes an impact. But
what effects might computers and technology
precipitate in their interaction with human beings?
How will they be noticeable, and when?

Video Still: Jon Rafman: Dream Journal 2016-2017, 2017, Copyright Jon Rafman, Courtesy the Artist and Sprüth Magers

The exhibition Virtual Insanity examines the extension
of reality and its shadowy underbelly. Growth and
change are the driving forces of human thought and
social change; they stimulate us, they provide
meaning, and they can be necessary. At the same
time they can activate things or trigger thoughts and
actions which are neither wanted nor controllable.
When contemporary artists address present-day
issues and phenomena they are making an important
contribution towards understanding these themes.

Video still: Tabita Rezaire, Premium Connect, 2017, Courtesy of the Artist and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

In Virtual Insanity they are creating documents, writing
reports and narratives, developing scenarios, they
are practicing an entirely unique approach to the
technical innovations and lifestyle brought about by
the digital revolution. The side effects listed above of
a virtual or expanded reality have long formed an
important component of the questions asked and
research conducted by international contemporary
artists. They vocalize what science conjectures: that
a high degree of immersion can change not only
consciousness but also people. The stronger the
feeling we have of “presence” within the virtual world,
the more convincing is the illusion of being part of it
and of turning one’s back on the physical world, and
the more overwhelming and profound the impact. And
this impact is not merely limited to thoughts and
feelings, but can also be physically measured. Since
the introduction of the World Wide Web around twenty-
five years ago, digital technologies have permeated
our everyday lives and with breathtaking speed have
radically transformed the way we live with each other.
What happens when we immerse ourselves in unknown
worlds but can’t emerge out of them again? What do we
take with us and what remains of us? The artists
participating in Virtual Insanity will be exploring these
questions, and many more besides.

LINK: Virtual Insanity

Game Art: Joseph DeLappe's Virtual Paintings 2 (2018-)

Joseph DeLappe, Self Portrait/Laurie Anderson VR watercolor on paper 8x8", 2018

In the mid-Nineties, while Miltos Manetas was making a series of stunning paintings about the new environments created by technology - depicting wires, cables, joypads, light guns, and even game spaces (his legendary Paintings After Videogames serie is as relevant today as it was twenty years ago) - Joseph DeLappe created traditional oil paintings referencing media portrayals of people utilizing the first wave of virtual reality technologies when Jaron Lanier was venerated as a guru. In 2018, as virtual reality is experiencing a subdued renaissance, Jaron Lanier is still venerated as a guru and DeLappe began a new series of watercolor studies of people using VR equipment, from visors to controllers. These smaller paintings are based on photographs that the artist shot at various VR festivals, university labs, and conferences. As DeLappe writes on his website, 

I remain fascinated by our eager embrace and adaptation to current interface technologies – VR remains very awkward, expensive and ungainly to use.

These paintings translate a digital moment into an analog artifact of this moment in time

Joseph DeLappe, John and Yoko in Bed, FOST watercolor on paper 8x8", 2018

This series is also inspired by a different technology of vision. Not VR, but color blind correcting glasses. As the artist writes, 

I’ve been colorblind my entire life. I was partially inspired to take on this new series of paintings due to the acquisition of color blind correcting glasses –painting was always a challenge – these new glasses have literally opened up the world to me and have become, in a way, the mechanism towards connecting me to a new reality of color (wearing a different kind of headset if you will – my glasses)…

LINK: Joseph DeLappe (all images courtesy of the artist)

Event: It doesn't take long to find new targets (7-16th December 2017, London)

It doesn’t take long to find new targets

 

Private view: 7th December, 6-9pm
8th - 16th December 2017
The Take Courage Gallery

388 New Cross Rd, London SE14 6TY

Curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight

An exhibition examining the constructed worlds that we choose to inhabit online, the power of video games as an interactive medium, the heteronormative face of stereotypical video gaming and the aesthetics and ideas associated with machinima based art practices, commemorating the third issue of the isthisit? magazine.

Featured artists:

Marc Blazel
Elliott Burns
Joseph DeLappe
Jon Haddock
Stelios Ilchouk
Claire L.Evans
Eva and Franco Mattes
Oliver Payne
Liv Preston
Michael Pybus
Stefan Schwarzer
Georgie Roxby Smith
Viktor Timofeev
Willem Weisman
Mathew Zefeldt

 

 

isthisit? issue 3 includes contributions from

Aaron McCarthy, Alan Butler, Alexandra Ehrlich Speiser, Anastasia Semenoff, Andy Nizinskyj, Aram Bartholl, Benjamin Warner, Bertie Irons, Brent Watanabe, Calum Bowden, Christina Smiros, Claire L. Evans, Dani Ploeger, David Blandy, David OReilly, Duncan Herd, Ellie Power, Emily Godden & Audit Chaos, Eva and Franco Mattes, Felix Treadwell, Fengyi Zhu, Gabriel Junqueira, Gabrielle Noel, Georgie Roxby Smith, Georgina Tyson, Gerhard Mantz, Harun Farocki, Henry Driver, Ian Cheng, Ian Malhotra, Isa Magalhaes, Jason Rohrer, Jon Haddock, Joscha Steffens, Joseph DeLappe, Kara Gut, Kasem Kydd, Katy Roseland, Klara Vincent-Novotna, Lawrence Lek, Lee Boötes, Liv Preston, Lucas Glenn, Marta Strazicic, Mathew Zefeldt, Matteo Bittanti, Max Colson, Mélanie Courtinat, Michael Pybus, Miyö Van Stenis, Ololade Adeniyi, Pete Jiadong Qiang, Petra Szemán, PucciSethCnxion, Raúl Berrueco, Roc Herms, Sandra Araújo, Second Front, Sian Fan, Silvia Dal Dosso, Stacey Davidson, Stefan Schwarzer, Tea Strazicic, Theo Triantafyllidis, Thomson and Craighead, Todd Deutsch, Tom Kobialka, Valentin Dommanget, Viktor Timofeev, Will Kendrick, Willem Weismann, fleuryfontaine, tissue.hunter, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Bob Bicknell-Knight, Olly Bharat, Oliver Payne, Elliott Burns, Kent Sheely, Frances Kelly, Mathias Jansson, Motsonian, Samuel Capps, Sid and Jim, Hannah Nussbaum, Nora Silva and Ped.Moreira

 

LINK: It doesn’t take long to find new targets

Event: GameOn! (December 9-17 2017, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

The fifth edition of Game On! will take place at the Cultural Center of Science in Buenos Aires, Argentina from December 9 until the 17. The exhibition features 30 artworks from 23 different countries including Argentina, France, Portugal, United States, Scotland, Brazil, England, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Poland, Israel, Switzerland and Italy. The works on display range from interactive installations, Game Art, machinima and art games. GameOn! is Latin America's biggest Game Art show.

Check the full trailer below:

LINK: Game On!

Event: Beautiful new worlds Virtual realities in contemporary (November 11, 2017–April 8, 2018, Friedrichshafen, Germany)

Press release

Beautiful new worlds
Virtual realities in contemporary art
November 11, 2017–April 8, 2018 

Zeppelin Museum 
Seestraße 22 
88045 Friedrichshafen
Germany 
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm 

The introduction of virtual reality has led to a pictorial revolution that is radically changing not only our perception of images, but also our relationship with reality. Accessible illusionary worlds conjured up in virtual spheres provide visitors with a very concrete experience. As secluded from the outside world as possible, they become immersed and physically involved in the pictorial spaces by means of interactive elements and additional devices. 

Widely compatible technologies, such as VR headsets and 3D projectors, play an increasingly important role in everyday life. Different fields of application, such as the 3D-supported monitoring of operations, video games, trauma therapy, and the digitization of lost cultural goods, are proof of the ongoing impact virtual spatial images have in various fields of life. 

The exhibition is dedicated to this evolution in image technology and explores the interconnections between virtual and real contexts. The socio-political dimension of these technologies is a key aspect. Within the tension field of illusion and critical distance, the artists reflect their application in fields such as forensics, the porn industry, and modern warfare. After all, the control over virtual space always goes hand in hand with the control over real space. Thus, virtuality and reality are closely intertwined. 

The immersion into illusionary worlds is by no means unprecedented. Moreover, it is rooted in a long tradition. Panoramas, dioramas, or stereoscopes serve as tokens of the century-old interest in immersive media. Consequently, stereoscopic photographs as footage on the history of the Zeppelin from 1900 until the 1930s are the starting point of the exhibition.

The show reflects the different varieties of virtuality. Visitors explore the exhibition and experience the merging of virtual and real worlds along a course developed in collaboration with the Berlin based architecture firm Kooperative für Darstellungspolitik. The display ranges from simulated reproductions of real environments to 3D videos and Virtual Reality which generates an all-encompassing spatial illusion with the aid of VR headsets. The artists represented in this show acquire immerse visual media and work together with programmers to refine technologies, thus invigorating the interdisciplinary interface between art and technology. 

Participating artists: Halil Altindere, Salome Asega & Reese Donohue & Tongkwai Lulin, Trisha Baga, Banz & Bowinkel, micha cárdenas, Harun Farocki, Forensic Architecture, Sidsel Meineche Hansen, Florian Meisenberg, The Nest Collective.

LINK: Beautifil New Wolrds

Call for submission: Vector Festival 2018 (deadline: 12/23/2017)

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Vector Festival 2018
Topic: Born Digital
Deadline: Saturday, December 23rd 2017 (midnight)

Now entering its sixth year, Vector Festival is a participatory and community-oriented event showcasing artistic practices that engage critically with new media and digital game technologies. Presenting works across a dynamic range of exhibitions, screenings, performances, lectures, panels, and workshops, Vector Festival acts as a critical bridge between emergent digital platforms and new media art practice. In recent years, the festival has broadened its scope to include a wider spectrum of works critically engaging with many aspects of emerging digital technologies. The festival is proud to be a participatory and community-oriented initiative organized by InterAccess in Toronto, Ont. 

Since 2013, Vector Festival has developed an active presence in regional and international communities related to co ntemporary art and critical game cultures. Curators Martin Zeilinger and Katie Micak invite you to contribute artworks for consideration toward festival programming, which will include a feature exhibition at InterAccess throughout the month of July and August, along with off-site screenings, performances, workshops, and panels from July 12-15, 2018. Note that Vector Festival does not charge submission fees to artists applying to participate.

This iteration of the festival turns its focus on the births (and deaths) of the digital. What might it mean to witness the birth of a new technology, or to be ‘born digital’? How does the term ‘digital native’ function in relation to this? How can technologies mold or inform identity? How do artists adopt, advance, hack, or dismantle digital technologies, to critically reflect on their meanings and implications? How does analogue detritus live on in the digital? What comes after the digital, how do post-human ist, post-digital, and post-Internet artistic perspectives inflect these questions?

Invoking everything from endlessly spawning game avatars to ‘permadeath,’ from media-archeological excavations to futurological speculation, from generative digital creation to the digital purgatories of discussion boards and spam, we invite emerging and established artists from diverse perspectives and backgrounds to contribute their critical explorations of these and related concerns and interests.

The curators seek works for the following programs:

Flagship Exhibition:
Artworks (including interactive installations, experimental game mods, sculptural work, screen-based work, sound art, etc.) for the festival flagship exhibition

Online Exhibition:
Digital artworks that can be exhibited online

Festival Screening:
Film/video/machinima works for the festival screening

Performance: 
Performance-based propos als (including sound art, live coding, chipmusic concerts, as well as performances and interventions in virtual and public spaces.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

1. Project description and artist statement (2 pages maximum)
2. Documentation (maximum five images and one video; ideally, please provide an online streaming link)
3. Detailed description of technical requirements (please outline materials provided by the artist and materials expected from the exhibiting venue)
4. Current CV (3 pages maximum)
5. Artist biography (100 words)

Send your submissions by Saturday, December 23, 2017 at midnight to [email protected] using the subject line VECTOR 2018 SUBMISSION. Attachments should not exceed 15MB. Please indicate which program your submission falls under. All artists selected for participation will receive artist fees, as well as support to apply for external funding.

About Vector Festival
Founded in 2013, Vector F estival is a participatory and community-oriented initiative dedicated to showcasing digital games and creative media practices. Presenting works across a dynamic range of exhibitions, screenings, performances, lectures, and workshops, Vector acts as a critical bridge between emergent digital platforms and new media art practice.

About InterAccess
Founded in 1983 as Toronto Community-Videotex, InterAccess is a non-profit gallery, educational facility, production studio, and festival dedicated to emerging practices in art and technology. InterAccess’s mission is to expand the cultural significance of art and technology by fostering and supporting the full cycle of art and artistic practice through education, production, and exhibition. Annually we execute multiple exhibitions, a full curriculum of skill-building and critical theory workshops, and a broad range of discursive events that explore the impact of technology on the social, political and cultural aspect s of contemporary life. Our studio space facilitates the circulation of skills and techniques required to produce the work we exhibit in our gallery space.

InterAccess Gallery Hours

Tuesday - Saturday, 11-6
Open until 8pm each Wednesday
Admission is always free
9 Ossington Ave.
Toronto, Ontario

For more information contact:
Festival Curators, Martin Zeilinger and Katie Micak
[email protected]

Deadline: 2017-12-23 23:12:00

LINK: Vector Festival

Game Art: Rindon Johnson's Away with You (2016)

 

Rindon Johnson investigates the notion of representation in video games by using 2K Games' NBA 2k16' facial recognition tool. The result is Away with You, a critical study of the ideologies embedded within the in-game editor. As Johnson writes:

NBA 2k16's facial recognition software can not accurately read and output a black male face. I scanned in my own face to see what sort of man I could become. All faces in NBA 2k16 are malleable. Away with You considers this invisibility and malleability using ASMR guided meditation. 

Johnson recommends the viewers to watch the videos on a cell phone or with a VR headset and/or to use the arrow keys in the top left to navigate around the videos.

The work also exists as a projection and installation (see below).

Rindon Johnson (b. 1990, San Francisco) makes sculptures, videos, paintings, photos, poems and drawings. By studying sign processes, signification and communication, Johnson wants to amplify the astonishment of the spectator by creating compositions or settings that generate tranquil poetic images that leave traces and balances on the edge of recognition and alienation. Rindon Johnson currently lives and works in Berlin. (source)

Rindon Johnson, Away with You, 2016, installation shot. 

Documentation:

LINK: Rindon Johnson (all videos and images courtesy of the Artist)

Video: Paolo Pedercini's A Short History of the Gaze (2017)

A glimpse into Paolo Pedercini's new project, an experiential essay for Virtual Reality about the relationship between gaze and violence, A Short History of the Gaze. Click the image below to see more (no pun intended).

SmallTalk with Paolo Pedercini

LINK: Paolo Pedercini 

Game Art: Amelie Marcoud's Ode to VR: The Future of Virtual Reality (2017)

In these dystopic, desperate times, this utopian, retrofuturistic, eminently nostalgic take on virtual reality (featuring an exhilarating mini-interview with David Bowie from the late Nineties) is anachronistically remarkable. 

LINK: Amelie Marcoud