Jacky Connolly

MMF MMXXIV: JACKY CONNOLLY

The Milan Machinima Festival is delighted to present Jacky Connolly’s Descent into Hell as part of our Auteur’s Theory program. Join us for a special screening on March 15 2024 at IULM University.

First presented at the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 2022, Descent into Hell transports viewers into a post-capitalist, dystopian vision of the United States. Crafted through an innovative amalgamation of scenes from the iconic video game Grand Theft Auto V and Connolly’s original animations, this piece diverges from the game’s central narrative of property theft, violence and mayhem. Instead, it delves into the stark realities of everyday life for its characters, navigating through themes of homelessness, illness, loss, patriarchal control, and a pervasive sense of powerlessness. These narratives unfold against the backdrop of Los Angeles’ neon-lit streets, which, despite their brilliance, echo the desolation of a faded dream. Connolly’s work is deeply embedded with the traumatic events of 2020, including police brutality, widespread protests, personal grief stemming from mental health struggles, and the isolating force of the global pandemic. Descent into Hell reflects the artist’s foray into the digital expanse of GTA V during the lockdown, a period marked by a collective yearning for genuine human connection amidst the confines of a virtual escape. The ambient blend of background city sounds and entrancing electronic music further envelops the audience, drawing them into Connolly’s meticulously crafted digital realm, a space that, while offering refuge, prompts reflection on the stark realities of our age of collapse.

Jacky Connolly, born in 1990 in the Lower Hudson Valley, New York, has carved a niche for herself in the digital arts landscape. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography, Art History, and Critical Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in 2011, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in Digital Arts and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute in 2016. Connolly’s work has been featured in a notable array of solo and duo exhibitions, as well as screenings across prestigious venues. Highlights of her exhibition history include presentations at Downs & Ross in New York, Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, Microscope Gallery in Brooklyn, Peach in Rotterdam, Daata Editions at NADA New York, Kimberly-Klark in Queens, Bus Projects in Melbourne, and Et al. in San Francisco. Her art has also been part of select group exhibitions and screening programs at significant cultural institutions such as the Museum Brandhorst in Munich, The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, D21 in Leipzig, Milan Machinima Festival in Milan, PAF Animation Festival in Olomouc, CZ, Ellis King in Dublin, and Hester in New York, among others. Today Connolly continues to explore the intersection of digital media, storytelling, and the archiving of information, positioning her as a distinctive, unique, and bold voice in contemporary art. Connolly’s Anhedonia (2018) and Ariadne (2019) have been previously shown at the Milan Machinima Festival to great acclaim.

Read more about the 7th edition of the Milan Machinima Festival

NEWS: IN FOCUS: JACKY CONNOLLY (MARCH 11 2020)

We are proud to present Ariadne, the latest monumental work by American artist Jacky Connolly.

As critic Emily Watlington writes, “Jacky Connolly’s moving image works, made with a video game rather than 3D animation software, speak to the impressionable adolescent mind, focusing on the young suburban woman—her absorption of trauma, her adaptability in learning new technologies, her desire to build worlds. Though conversations touch often on the threat of desensitization via mass media, less often do we speak of their capacity to retraumatize through rehearsal and reenactment; Connolly turns astutely to trauma’s effects rather than its events in her latest film Ariadne“. A full length movie, Ariadne audaciously combines live footage with entire sequences created with Electronic Arts’ The Sims. This groundbreaking assemblage marks Connolly’s return to Milan after her impressive Anhedonia was screened at the 2018 MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL.

Jacky Connolly is an American artist based in New York whose practice draws from cinema, literature, transmedia world-making, and storytelling. She began playing The Sims in the early Zeroes and she now uses the game to create a new world for her machinima productions. Among her most celebrated works is Hudson Valley Ruins (2016), a 30-minute video which screened by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Connolly's works has been featured in several international shows, including Post-Apocalyptic Realism at Museum Brandhorst in Munich, Germany, and the film program of Art Cologne in Cologne, Germany. 

Siamo orgogliosi di presentare Ariadne, L’ultima monumentale opera dell’artista americana Jacky Connolly.

Come ha scritto la critica Emily Watlington, "Le opere a immagine mobile di Jacky Connolly, realizzate con un videogioco piuttosto che con un software di animazione 3D, parlano alla mente impressionabile dell'adolescente, concentrandosi sulla giovane donna di periferia - il suo assorbimento del trauma, la sua adattabilità nell'apprendimento delle nuove tecnologie, il suo desiderio di costruire mondi. Anche se le conversazioni toccano spesso la minaccia della desensibilizzazione attraverso i mass media, meno spesso si parla della loro capacità di ritrattare attraverso le prove e la ricostruzione; Connolly si rivolge con astuzia agli effetti del trauma piuttosto che ai suoi eventi nel suo ultimo film Ariadne". Un vero e proprio lungometraggio, Ariadne combina audacemente riprese dal vivo con intere sequenze create con il popolare videogioco The Sims di Electronic Arts. Questo innovativo assemblage segna il ritorno di Connolly a Milano dopo la proiezione dell’impressionante Anhedonia nel corso del MILANO MACHINIMA FESTIVAL 2018.

Jacky Connolly è un’artista statunitense che vive a lavora a New York la cui pratica artistica trae ispirazione dal cinema, dalla letteratura, dalla creazione di mondi immaginari e dalla narrazione. Appassionata di The Sims sin dai primi anni del ventunesimo secolo, Connolly lo utilizza per creare set virtuali per le sue produzioni di machinima. La sua opera più ambiziosa è Hudson Valley Ruins (2016), un video di 30 minuti acquistato dal Whitney Museum of American Art. Le sue opere sono state esibite in numerose mostre internazionali, tra cui Post-Apocalyptic Realism al Museum Brandhorst di Monaco e la sezione cinematografica di Art Cologne a Colonia, in Germania.

TRAILER

LOCATION/TIMES

Wednesday March 11 2020/Mercoledì 11 marzo 2020

Contemporary Exhibition Hall (IULM OPEN SPACE)

09:00 - 19:00 Free entry

PROGRAMME/PROGRAMMA

ARIADNE

digital video/machinima, color, sound, 50’ 13”, 2019. United States of America.