REGRESSION (TRILOGY)
Digital video, color, sound, 16’ 32”, 2020 (The Netherlands)
Created by Jordy Veenstra
JIntroduced by Matteo Bittanti
Several cinematic productions of the 1920s and 1930s became known as city symphonies. Some, like The Man with a Movie Camera (1929) by Dziga Vertov or Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (1927) by Walter Ruttmann were explicitly avant-garde in style. Their aesthetics were influenced by modern art, with an emphasis on fast cutting and pulsating scores. Others were more contemplative and ruminative, the equivalent of a cinematic dérive. All of them portrayed and celebrated the life, rhythms, and activities of urban environments. Today, several filmmakers are creating visual poems extolling the virtues of Los Santos and Liberty City. Like their predecessors, these machinima are situated halfway between the documentary and the avant-garde film insofar as they showcase virtual vistas with a style reminiscent of a longstanding cinematic tradition. With Regression, Jordy Veenstra portrays different facets of Grand Theft Auto V’s state of San Andreas, highlighting both the idiosyncrasies of simulations as well as the act of travelling without moving.
Jordy Veenstra is a video editor, motion graphics designer, 2D animator, and experimental filmmaker based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His works connect art and narratives with technology or software through the medium of experimental film. His work often examines overlooked social, artistic or personal issues.
