We are excited to present Andy Hughes’s Inner Migration at the upcoming edition of the Milan Machinima Festival.
Inner Migration is an exhilarating ride through Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, blending game footage with archival films to contrast dystopian futures with past visions of utopia. Hughes transport the viewer into a world under corporate dominance, juxtaposing scenes of environmental and societal neglect with optimistic mid-20th-century American propaganda from Out of This World (1964) and To New Horizons (1940). Inner Migration focuses on Michel Serres’s notion of soft pollution, highlighting the insidious impact of the media on our psyche amidst a backdrop of technological and environmental decay. The film prompts reflection on our expectations for the future against the reality shaped by technological advancement and corporate power. It questions the disparity between historical optimism and the current global situation, suggesting that for some, the dystopian imagery of Night City may already be their reality. Inner Migration encourages a reevaluation of our internal landscapes, confronting the cognitive dissonance between the past’s hopeful promises and today’s challenging circumstances.
Andy Hughes works across photography, painting, sculpture, and digital media, with a focus on littoral zones and plastic waste politics. He studied Fine Art at Cardiff University and received a photography scholarship at the Royal College of Art, London. Hughes was the first Artist in Residence at Tate Gallery St. Ives and collaborates with non-profits like Surfers Against Sewage and the Plastic Pollution Coalition in Los Angeles. In 2013, Hughes contributed to Gyre: The Plastic Ocean, a pioneering project linking science and art to address marine plastic pollution, alongside notable figures like Mark Dion and Carl Safina. This initiative led to a National Geographic film, an exhibition, and a book, supported by entities such as the NOAA and Smithsonian Institution. In 2022, Hughes embarked on a six-month residency at Gapado AiR, South Korea, creating artworks that meld reality with surrealism, addressing themes from the ocean to plastic waste. This residency marked a significant phase in his career, deepening his exploration of environmental concerns through art. His groundbreaking work Plastic Scoop was screened in 2020 at the Milan Machinima Festival
Read more about the 7th edition of the Milan Machinima Festival
