Jean Baudrillard

MMF MMXXIV: ALBERTO CALLEO

We are delighted to announce the inclusion of Alberto Calleo’s The Desert of the Real in the Made in Italy program at the forthcoming Milan Machinima Festival.

Created with the Unreal Engine, Alberto Calleo’s The Desert of the Real is an engaging machinima that explores the concept of simulacrum, inspired by French philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s influential book, Simulacra and Simulation (1981). Calleo insightfully navigates Baudrillard’s forward-looking criticism on how reality merges with media, probing the significant effects this fusion has on the very nature of reality. Through the prism of technology, with a specific focus on video game technology, Calleo examines the changing relationship between humans and machines, as well as between the tangible and the virtual realms. He positions video gaming as a crucial form of expression in the realm of contemporary technoculture, highlighting its role in shaping and reflecting our understanding of these complex interactions.

Alberto Calleo works at the intersection of digital media and architectural design, currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Bologna’s Department of Architecture. His research ambitiously spans the convergence of digital media practices and design cultures, with a keen focus on speculative design and forward-thinking through video games and interactive media. Calleo is deeply engaged in the creative applications of 3D modeling, photogrammetry, aero-photogrammetry, and laser scanning. His commitment to advancing the field is evident in his participation in applied research projects alongside various national companies, where he continues to push the boundaries of digital media and design.

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

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.

ARTICLE: VOLARE: MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR MACHINIMA IS TAKING OFF

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Shortly after the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator (2022), a remarkable amount of experimental, avant-garde machinima landed in the White Cube. Three, in particular, stand out: The Cool Couple’s Flyin’ High, Luca Miranda & Riccardo Retez’ America (HD Remastered) and Sebastian Schmieg’s Lights will guide you home. 

First screened at the 2021 Milan Machinima Festival, America (HD Remastered) is a sui generis adaptation/replay of America (1986), Jean Baudrillard’s philosophical travelogue. Upping the ante re: the so-called “crisis of the real” denounced by Guy Debord in his 1967 treatise, The Society of the Spectacle, Baudrillard famously argued that reality itself has disappeared: it is no longer a mere representation because simulation took over and basically ate the world. After a series of provocative essays and books including Symbolic Exchange and Death (1976), Seduction (1979), Simulacra and Simulation (1981), Baudrillard wrote a groundbreaking non-academic book titled America (1986), entirely devoted to the land of simulacra. Thirty five years after its publication, this instant cult still provides illuminating insights into the unconscious of a puzzling country, ever so close to imploding or exploding, depending on the point of view. America is a road (and plane) trip across the “New World of banalities”: on America’s freeways, malls, deserts, and cities, Baudrillard experienced an overwhelming, ecstatic emptiness. In his account, the desert is the central metaphor of American culture: empty, vast, radiant, and completely indifferent to history, knowledge, and culture. In short, America chronicles the desert of the real. To reenact Baudrillard’s journey, Mirand and Retez appropriated Microsoft Flight Simulator, a game that uses algorithms and accurate datasets to reproduce the landscape of the United States. They flew over Los Angeles which Baudrillard describes as “an incandescent immensity, stretching as far as the eye can see”. America (HD Remastered’s stunning vistas of Los Angeles are directly lifted from a virtual plane. The video is accompanied by Baudrillard’s original words read by a text-to-speech software tool in French.

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Matteo Bittanti

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NEWS: ON THE RED EYE WITH LUCA MIRANDA, RICCARDO RETEZ, AND JEAN BAUDRILLARD

Photo 4 America_HD_remastered_still_4.jpg

In Luca Miranda and Riccardo Retez’ America (HD Remastered), French philosopher Jean Baudrillard returns to life as a zombie hologram. His simulacrum is on a red eye to an hyper-real Los Angeles. Part of THE CLASSICAL ELEMENTS, a series of five special screenings at this year’s festival, America (HD Remastered) is a remix/remake/reenactment/adaptation of Baudrillard’s fascinating travelogue of the same title (almost). The only machinima created with Microsoft Flight Simulator in this year’s line-up, America (HD Remastered) pushes the boundaries of the medium.

In this video interview (in Italian without subtitles), Luca Miranda and Riccardo Retez - who are also part of the curatorial team - discuss their work. Both Miranda and Luca graduated from IULM University. Miranda’s Cheatimerism was featured in 2020 as part of VRAL, while The Bowl (La Jatte) and Alma were screening at the 2020 and 2019 MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL respectively.

Luca Miranda’s practice focuses on the relationship between reality and simulation. He is especially interested in the notion of the avatar as an aesthetic entity and its representational features. In his work, Miranda critically scrutinizes game mechanics and notions such as immersion, identification, and interpassivity. His work deals with the image of the avatar in contemporary culture. Miranda received a Master of Arts in TV, Cinema and New Media at IULM University, Milan, and previously a B.A. in Media and Art from the University of Bologna.

Riccardo Retez is a PhD.D candidate in the Visual and Media Studies program at IULM University, Milan, Italy. He is also a digital content creator specializing in contemporary visual culture including cultural studies and game studies. He is the author of Machinima Vernacolare (Concrete Press, 2020), the first academic study of Grand Theft Auto V’ video editing software Rockstar Editor. He is currently researching live streaming culture.

In America (HD Remastered) di Luca Miranda e Riccardo Retez, Jean Baudrillard rivive come un ologramma zombie. Il suo simulacro è in volo su una Los Angeles iper-reale. Parte di THE CLASSICAL ELEMENTS, una serie di cinque proiezioni speciali, America (HD Remastered) è un remix/remake/rievocazione/adattamento dell’affascinante diario di viaggio del filosofo francese pubblicato negli anni Ottanta. Unico machinima creato con Microsoft Flight Simulator nella rassegna di quest’anno, America (HD Remastered) ridefinisce la natura stessa e il potenziale espressivo del machinima. In questa video intervista, Luca Miranda e Riccardo Retez — che fanno anche parte del team curatoriale — discutono la loro collaborazione e prassi artistica. Miranda che Luca si sono entrambi laureati presso l'Università IULM. L’opera Cheatimerism di Miranda è stata presentata nel 2020 nell’ambito di VRAL, mentre — un altro remake sui generis — The Bowl (La Jatte) e Alma sono stati proiettati rispettivamente al MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL 2020 e 2019.

La ricerca artistica di Luca Miranda si concentra sulla relazione tra realtà e simulazione, l’avatar come entità estetica e le correlate dimensioni testuali e visive. Centrale, nella sua pratica, è l’analisi delle meccaniche videoludiche, insieme alla riflessione critica sui concetti di immersione, identificazione ed interpassività. Investiga la figura dell’avatar nella cultura contemporanea. Ha conseguito una Laurea Magistrale in Televisione, Cinema e New Media presso l’Università IULM di Milano e una Laurea Triennale al D.A.M.S. dell’Università di Bologna.

Riccardo Retez è un dottorando in Visual e Media Studies presso l’Università IULM di Milano. Creatore di contenuti digitali che investigano la cultura visiva contemporanea, Retez si interessa di cultural studies e di game studies. È l’autore di Machinima vernacolare (Concrete Press, 2020), il primo studio accademico del Rockstar Editor, un software di montaggio presente in Grand Theft Auto V. Studia le culture del live streaming online.