VRAL is currently exhibiting Aleksandar Radan’s This water giver back no Images. To provide context to this remarkable work, we are discussing the Serbian-German artist’ oeuvre. Today we take a closer look at his 2019-2022 mockumentary series Steckbrief Natur.
In the context of game-based video art, Aleksandar Radan’s Steckbrief Natur series (2019-2022) stands as a sui generis work marrying the mechanics of machinima with the aesthetics of avant-garde documentary, or rather, mockumentary. This trio of nature “profiles” reimagines the popular genre of wildlife documentary through a lens that educates, even as it unsettles. By utilizing game engines to construct surreal dreamscapes, Radan’s triptych, consisting of Der Waldkauz (The Tawny Owl, 2019) and Steckbrief Natur - Episodes 2 & 3 (2022) probes the porous boundary between nature and techno-culture.
Initially introduced via the mighty Franco-Teutonic platform Arte.tv after the first episode was presented at a handful of film festivals in Germany, the series showcases Radan’s flair for technical innovation through avant-garde machinima. This inventive use of game assets aligns with the project’s conceptual interests in simulated and actual ecologies. In this sense, machinima’s reputation for flexibility and surreal possibility makes it an ideal vector for Radan’s exploration of environments where realism ruptures without warning.
At its core, Steckbrief Natur examines the interplay between documenting wildlife and the narratives we overlay onto other species. In Der Waldkauz, the tawny owl becomes more than flesh and feathers: it is a cipher for philosophical ruminations on existence and mortality. Through lingering shots of the raptor’s piercing eyes, Radan establishes its role as a messenger between altered states of being. This fascination with animals as vessels for cultural mythologies permeates the series.
Matteo Bittanti
Works cited
Aleksandar Radan
Steckbrief Natur - Der Waldkauz (The Rawny Owl)
digital video, color, sound, 9’ 41”, 2019, Germany
Steckbrief Natur - episodes 2 and 3
digital video, color, sound, 14’ 02”, Germany
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