architecture

ARTICLE: A CLOSER LOOK AT JORDY VEENSTRA’S REGRESSION 4

VRAL is currently showcasing Regression 4, Jordy Veenstra’s latest installment in his ongoing ludo-topographical project. To accompany the screening, we are delighted to present a critical examination of Veenstra's monumental series Regression in video essay form.

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Conceived and developed by Dutch artist and filmmaker Jordy Veenstra, the ongoing Regression series uniquely captures experimental machinima within Rockstar’s ever expanding Grand Theft Auto’s urban and rural territories. Using an array of mods and the Rockstar Editor, Veenstra produced avant-garde studies of these detailed spaces from distinct vantage points. From 2019, Veenstra has been producing four installments, all showcased on VRAL. 

While linked thematically, each film focuses on different contexts within specific Grand Theft Auto maps. As an auteur, Veenstra explores overlooked corners, finding beauty in transformed gameplay. His rigorous approach reimagines chaotic worlds as meditative landscapes.

Regression’s title refers to the illusion of perfection in Grand Theft Auto’s dystopia, perceiving it as societal decline, deterioration, and barbarism. Behind the glitzy façade, flaws and cracks emerge, satirized via aggressive advertising, profanity, and lawlessness. Through distorted, dreamlike aesthetics, the films unpack the dissonance between illusion and grim realities. Visually embracing both analog and digital, a grainy 24fps texture emulates film alongside sweeping 4K vistas. Dynamic grading heightens contrast and painterly scenes. This fusion pays homage to cinema’s legacy while exploring the frontiers of simulation. Veenstra eschews narrative conventions such as voice over or didactic illustration in favor of a more improvisational production. Loose frameworks guide raw gameplay capture while editing choices shape the experiences. 

Using the embedded Rockstar Editor, Veenstra cuts, frames, and exports clips from Grand Theft Auto V. His shots feature depth of field, enhancing cinematic illusions in-engine. With the EVE mod, scenes export at 24fps, evoking the look and feel of celluloid. Veenstra coined the expression “cinematic distortion” to indicate techniques transforming gameplay into cinematic aesthetics. Key features include:

— Filmic aspect ratios over typical 16:9;   

— 24fps over higher game frame rates;

— Extensive color grading to shift familiar hues;

— Analog artifacts like grain and motion blur;     

— Cinematic framing and pacing;

— Intuitive filming focused on spaces rather than plot.

The outcome distances the polished CG interactivity of the original games for the richness of celluloid. Veenstra’s distortion process elicits a dreamlike, glitchy texture, expanding and simultaneously merging machinima and cinema. Through strategic post-production transformations, Veenstra’s meticulous workflow sculpts raw gameplay into textured cinematic experiences, transcending Grand Theft Auto’s digital gloss.

Specialized mods from the active modding community enrich creative possibilities. Veenstra leverages these fan-made tools, showcasing remarkable imagination alongside his vision.

The Dutch filmmaker redefines player relationships with familiar game spaces. Chaotic criminal playgrounds transform into serene environments appreciating underlying aesthetics. The films play with realism and artificiality, using convincing illusions yet reveling in fanciful virtual possibilities. Through skillful craft, Veenstra elicits resonance and humanity from violent game worlds. His cinematic distortion recalibrates familiar mayhem into a canvas for poignant artistic expression.

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Matteo Bittanti


Works cited

Jordy Veenstra

Regression 1, digital video, color, sound, 3’ 19”, 2019, The Netherlands

Regression 2, digital video, color, sound, 3’ 23”, 2019, The Netherlands

Regression 3, digital video, color, sound, 9’ 49”, 2019, The Netherlands

Regression 4, digital video (4k Scope), color, sound, 13’ 51” (original), 2023, The Netherlands

Joris Ivens, De Brug (The Bridge), black and white, silent, 15”, 1928, The Netherlands

Bert Haanstra

Glas (Glass), color, sound, 15”, 1958, The Netherlands

Zoo, black and white, sound, 11”, 1960, The Netherlands

Vittorio De Sica

Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves), black and white, sound, 93”, 1948, Italy

All images and videos courtesy of the Artist

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EVENT: HUGO ARCIER (JULY 14 - 27 2023, ONLINE)

Ghost City

originally, two-channel video installation, 22’ (loop), 2016, France

hereby presented as a single channel video (1920 x 1080), color, sound, 22’, 2023, France

Created by Hugo Arcier

WORLD PREMIERE


Ghost City, an immersive installation inspired by Lucretius’s De rerum natura, blurs the boundaries between reality and virtuality, presenting a captivating reinterpretation of Los Santos, the iconic setting of Grand Theft Auto V. With a masterful blend of architectural and graphic elements, the viewer is immersed in a hauntingly desolate landscape, devoid of human presence. As the camera explores this evocative environment, the city’s structures fade away as if consumed by an invisible force. Through the juxtaposition of architectural details, the deliberate removal of living presence, and the render-like aesthetics, Ghost City invite viewers to contemplate the interplay of memory, virtuality, and the epistemological foundations that shape our perception of the world. 

Hugo Arcier transcends the conventional boundaries of artistic practice, positioning himself as an “artist in a digital world.” Harnessing the expansive potential of 3D computer graphics, Arcier channels his creative vision into a diverse range of mediums, seamlessly weaving together videos, prints, and sculptures. While his initial foray into the artistic realm was through the realm of special effects for renowned feature filmmakers such as Roman Polanski, Alain Resnais, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, it is through this trajectory that he cultivated an unparalleled mastery of digital tools, particularly in the realm of 3D graphic imagery. Arcier’s artistic prowess has garnered global acclaim, with his works showcased in prestigious international festivals, including Elektra, Videoformes, and Némo. His creative explorations have further permeated the hallowed walls of Magda Danysz and Plateforme Paris, alongside art venues like the New Museum and the New Media Art Center of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. Notably, Arcier’s distinctive artistic voice has resonated across the global art landscape, finding a home in revered institutions like Le Cube, Okayama Art Center, and the iconic Palais de Tokyo. He lives and works in Paris.


ARTICLE: A CLOSER LOOK AT FUMI OMORI’S HOME SWEET HOME (2 OF 2)

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“Now that she knows that she is herself, will she resume her game of ‘playing houses,’ will she return home, in other words, withdraw again into herself?”

(Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space, 1958)

VRAL is currently showcasing Fumi Omori’s latest project Home Sweet Home, which delves into the young Japanese artist’s intimate tapestry of personal recollections and her playful documentation of frequent relocations both IRL and within the virtual realm of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

In our preceding exploration, we delved into the intricate interplay between the digital realm and its tangible manifestations, exemplified by the artist’s clever utilization of photogrammetry — a technique that involves capturing and measuring physical objects or environments through the analysis of photographs or digital images — in visualizing the meticulously reconstructed apartments within the landscape of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. With a process that dances harmoniously between simplicity and intricate complexity, Home Sweet Home's essence gradually reveals itself.

In the second part of our deep dive, our focus shifts toward Omori’s ingenious employment of Animal Crossing: New Horizons itself, which serves as both a tool for reconstructing fragmented memories and an archival repository of lived experiences, deftly mediated through the artist's lens. The accompanying images presented in this page poignantly showcase Omori's recreated apartments within the realm of Nintendo’s 2020 best selling game. Reminiscent of The Sims, Animal Crossing: New Horizons provides a captivating interplay that merges the practice of dollhouse playing with the art of crafting personalized living spaces. Here, players become architects of their own imaginative interiors, meticulously curating furniture, decor, and layout to reflect their sense of style and self expression. With a plethora of design options and customizable elements at their disposal, players can explore various aesthetics, experiment with spatial arrangements, and create harmonious environments that evoke a sense of comfort, cuteness, and personalization.

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Matteo Bittanti

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ARTICLE: A CLOSER LOOK AT FUMI OMORI’S HOME SWEET HOME (1 of 2)

Fumi Omori, Home Sweet Home, Photomechanical prints, 8.3 x 14.0 cm (3 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. ), installation view, ECAL, 2022

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VRAL is currently showcasing Fumi Omori’s latest project Home Sweet Home, which delves into the young Japanese artist’s intimate tapestry of personal recollections and her playful documentation of frequent relocations both IRL and within the virtual realm of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Her nomadic history, characterized by a succession of relocations around the world in the past few years, finds solace in the poignant stillness of captured photographs, a portal to the emotional entanglements woven into past physical spaces. Nestled within the cherished folds of this popular video game, Animal Crossing, which emerged as a sanctuary amidst the disquietude of the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic, the artist crafts bespoke chambers that bear testament to their very essence.

Home Sweet Home raises a fundamental inquiry into the ramifications of transposing corporeal abodes into the virtual landscapes of video game spaces, which are “inhabited” by around two billion people as we speak, according to the latest statistics. Employing the meticulous technique of photogrammetry, Omori undertook the playful reconstruction of her former dwellings within the game, thereby obfuscating the demarcations between reality and imagination, leaving the viewer awash in a sea of architectural reverie, both deeply personal and utterly generic, as these apartments evoke the classic IKEA principles of impermanence, interchangeability, and transience. The interplay that ensues between these competing ideas of domesticity but also between these planes of reality — one corporeal and the other intangible — affords a tantalizing glimpse into a distinct visual hacking methodology, a véritable trompe-l’oeil.

In an extensive interview with the curator, the artist mentioned that the genesis of this project took root at ECAL, the prestigious École cantonale d’art de Lausanne, and was set into motion by the visionary digital curator Marco De Mutiis of Fotomuseum Winterthur as part of a workshop on Automated Photography. Notably, this marks the third installment — following Benjamin Freedman and Moritz Jekatrecent shows, to grace the fourth season of VRAL — a testament to the platform’s unwavering commitment to championing burgeoning talents alongside their venerable counterparts, an approach ardently advocated by the discerning Italian emigré, De Mutiis.

It is not by chance, then, that these three works share common concerns about memory, belonging, and loss.

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Matteo Bittanti

This is a Patreon exclusive article. To access the full content consider joining our growing community.

EVENT: FUMI OMORI (JUNE 2 - 15 2023, ONLINE)

HOME SWEET HOME

machinima/digital video (1920 x 1080), color, sound, 2’ 35”, Japan, 2023

Created by Fumi Omori

Home Sweet Home explores personal memories and their translation into physical architecture through Animal Crossing: New Horizons. With a history of frequent relocations, the artist captured their rooms in photographs, preserving emotional connections to past spaces. Animal Crossing, a beloved game providing an idyllic refuge during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowed the artist to craft personalized rooms reflecting their personality. This project questions the impact of translating real-life spaces into the virtual realm. Employing photogrammetry, the artist reconstructs their past homes in the game, blurring boundaries with imaginative architecture. The interplay between virtual and physical layers offers a fresh perspective, showcasing a unique visual hacking method. Automating realities on the virtual plane reveals the intricate relationship between our fragile understanding of reality and memories. Digital reverie becomes an avenue for escapism, confronting the present, future, nostalgia, and denial.

Fumi Omori navigates the crossroads of the cultural diaspora with her transcendent visual language. Currently nearing the culmination of her master’s degree in photography at the esteemed École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL) in Switzerland, Omori’s diverse experiences serve as a potent source of inspiration. Born and raised in Japan, the artist spent over a decade living in prominent American coastal cities (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco) before gravitating towards the medium of photography. Her previous stints as a perceptive graphic designer and discerning art director have indubitably permeated her artistic vision.

EVENT: JORDY VEENSTRA (DECEMBER 19 2022 - JANUARY 5 2023, ONLINE)

AR3NA

digital video/machinima (2048x858), color, sound, 35’ (original), 2022, The Netherlands

Created by Jordy Veenstra, 2022

AR3NA is a visual study of Quake III Arena; its environments and its textures. It is also a complex work of media anthropology: a deeper critical look at more than two-hundred maps in which millions of battles have been fought since 1999. With a production time frame and a duration exceeding those of most experimental machinima, Veenstra’s AR3NA is a meta-commentary on video game play, architecture, space and places.

Jordy Veenstra is a video editor, motion graphics designer, 2D animator, and experimental filmmaker based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In his practice, Veenstra connects art and narrative with technology and software through the medium of experimental film. His work examines often overlooked social and artistic concerns. His works have been exhibited during the 2020 and 2022 editions of the Milan Machinima Festival and the equally astounding Regression Trilogy was featured as a show on VRAL in 2020.

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