first-person shooter

ARTICLE: ...OK, BUT JUST HOW POWERFUL IS YOUR LOVE?

Following our recent exploration of Merlin Dutertre’s Lullaby (2019) – which is now accessible here after its VRAL show – we turn our focus to the works that have shaped his artistic vision. After examining Jon Rafman’s groundbreaking A Man Digging (2013), we now shift our lens to Jonathan Vinel’s avant-garde machinima, Notre amour est assez puissant (Our Love is Powerful Enough, 2014).

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“In video games, you get to look at the environment in a way that you don’t in real life, because it’s beautiful and magical. But this leap into the game also allows you to live and experience things differently. In the end, it’s about reconnecting better through disconnecting.” (Caroline Poggi)

In an insightful interview, Dutertre attributes his formative years in the 2010s to YouTube, which he considers pivotal in shaping his identity as a filmmaker. Back then, Dutertre engaged enthusiastically with gaming-related content on the video sharing platform, although the concept of machinima initially eluded him. His high school years marked a turning point, ignited by the early works of Jon Rafman and Jonathan Vinel.

In this short essay, I will discuss Vinel’s machinima and then broaden the context to provide a clearer picture (no pun intended).

Born in 1988 in Toulouse, Jonathan Vinel studied editing at the esteemed film school La Fémis in Paris where he cultivated his passion for games, cinema, and pop culture. He later met Caroline Poggi, a Corsican native born in 1990. Poggi studied at Paris IV University and at the University in Corsica. The two crossed paths in college and directed several short films separately – including Poggi’s Chiens, and Vinel’s Notre amour est assez puissant. Their subsequent collaborative filmmaking practice comprises award-winning shorts, including the Golden Bear-winning Tant qu’il nous reste des fusils à pompe (As Long As Shotguns Remain) and Martin Pleure (Martin Cries, 2017), and full feature films, including Jessica Forever (2018), a paradigmatic example of what has been labeled the GAMECORE genre, which we will address in a separate post.

Vinel’s nine-minute machinima offers a complex interplay of disparate elements: militaristic imagery from first-person shooter games, romantic idealism, and metaphysical purity symbolized by a computer-generated tiger evocative of Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s surreal narratives.

Let’s unpack these three themes.

Firstly, Notre amour est assez puissant draws heavily from the visual and thematic elements found in first-person shooter games such as DOOM (id Software, 1993). These games are characterized by their aggressive, fast-paced action, and often hyper-violent scenarios. They usually involve a single protagonist navigating a hostile environment, armed with various weapons, and fighting off enemies in a dog-eat-dog world. The imagery is often dark, gritty, and designed to evoke a sense of urgency and danger. Vinel’s machinima comprises unsettling sequences set initially in a high school and later in a zoo, which evoke the disturbing prevalence of mass shootings in the United States. As for the latter, a group of virtual soldiers spend their evening slaughtering the trapped animals – elephants, monkeys, crocodiles – for “fun” and out of boredom. Both sequences are shocking: the calmness and slow pace which accompanies the narrator’s monotone speech heighten this sense of uneasiness…

(continues)

Matteo Bittanti

Works cited

Brody Condon, Adam Killer, in-game performance, color, sound, video game mod, various lenghth, 1999, United States

Jon Rafman, A Man Digging, digital video, color, sound, 8’ 20’’, 2013, Canada

Jonathan Vinel, Notre amour est assez puissant, digital video, color, sound, 9’ 16”, 2014, France

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ARTICLE: WELCOME TO THE PASTURE

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VRAL is currently exhibiting Mikhail Maksimov’s The New Game Is Over. To better contextualize and appreciate his multi-layered oeuvre, we are examining recurring themes in the Russian avant-garde artist oeuvre. Today, we revisit Maksimov’s hysterical parody The Pasture (2016).

A satire of the contemporary artworld, The Pasture (2016) is a peculiar meta-horror game by Mikhail Maksimov, that combines the thrilling practice of art gallery curation with exciting survival horror gameplay. No, this is not the game where you get to destroy Jeff Koon’s artworks (even though his damn balloon dog haunts the virtual gallery), so please bear with me.

Borrowing heavily from established genres and, at the same time subverting the clichés with gusto, The Pasture allows players to explore an art gallery while avoiding two stalking monsters. Set in a contemporary generic White Cube, players chain-smoke their way through the predictably pristine ivory interior. Shapeshifting creatures — a metaphor for the hypocrisy that pervades this abstract jungle — populate the premises, but the true focus is on the menacing adversaries accompanying the player. These enemies maintain proximity, requiring constant backward movement to evade them. While maneuvering the gallery, players encounter significant Russian art sculptures, including a large set of sliced breasts (evoking Patrick Bateman’s psychotic pun, “keeping abreast”), collecting them to increase their score à la Pokémon. As the game is mainly targeted at millennials, the smartphone is the main interface — pics or it doesn’t exist! All the while, a “time until you die” bar fills the screen, dwindling if the player pauses. Prominently featured are three disembodied hands holding cups with tea bags hosting wriggling worms or the aforementioned mobile phones displaying videos of the smoking woman approaching. Beyond the gallery lies a graveyard-infested garden, beneath a banner declaring “International of death”, a theme consistent with Maksimov’s main obsession (don’t forget that his alter ego is the Postmanian mantra “dying fun”). Notably, players may occasionally manifest as a strange winged man, alternating between human and pig-like forms, sporting a cloud-covered blue top hat and brandishing a sizable phallic eggplant-like object. As the man, the floating arms may instead wield guns rather than the usual oddities. 

(continues)

Matteo Bittanti

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ARTICLE: LIMITED VIEWS. ON HUGO ARCIER’S FPS

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Currently on display at VRAL is Ghost City, Hugo Arcier’s groundbreaking 2016 video installation, which, until now, has never been exhibited online. After discussing 11 Executions and the Limbus series, we conclude our examination of Arcier’s game-based works with FPS (2016). 

Alongside 11 Executions, FPS is one of Hugo Arcier’s most thought-provoking game-based installations. This interactive piece – which debuted in 2016 in the context of the Fantômes numériques exhibition at Plateforme Paris – is accompanied by a soundtrack by Stéphane Rives and Frédéric Nogray, also known as The Imaginary Soundscapes.

As most readers will likely know, FPS is the acronym of First-Person Shooter, a genre of video games that emerged in the United States at the beginning of the 1990s. Early examples include Wolfenstein 3D (1991) and Doom (1993) both developed by id Software, a company from Mesquite, Texas. For those who are unfamiliar with FPSs, suffice to say that these games are presented from the visual perspective of the avatar: the player views the game world as if through their character’s eyes. The primary gameplay element involves shooting and combat from this first-person perspective. Players must aim and shoot enemies and opponents using a variety of guns and weapons, which occupy the center of the screen. The pace and gameplay is fast, intense, and action-packed. FPS games tend to have a strong focus on reflexes and hand-eye coordination. The competitive element is a major component in most FPS games, which are known for immersive visual and audio experiences that make the player feel part of the world and action. Common elements include detailed graphics, surround sound, and realistic physics. In short, the FPS is a quintessentially USA-centric video game genre: the fact that a society that venerates weapons created an entire genre of techno-violence celebrating gun culture as a playful pastime makes perfect sense.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the FPS is also one of the most criticized genres of video games. They have been accused of promoting real life violence and aggression, usually by opportunistic, bi-partisan politicians funded by the weapon-industry, represented by the National Rifle Association. For instance, it is ironic that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump suggest the existence of a strong link between simulated violence and real life violence against all scientific evidence. Nonetheless, it is indisputable that the core mechanics of most FPS games involve shooting and killing, often in graphic ways. This has led to concerns that they are making violence seem mundane and potentially desensitizing players, perhaps an even more pernicious side effect than instigating aggression. Moreover, FPS games tend to prioritize action and combat over storytelling and character development. This had led some to criticize them as glorifying violence for its own sake. In terms of representation, many FPS games have been accused of promoting problematic stereotypes by depicting enemies from specific real-world groups, regions, or ethnicities. This kind of problematic representation also extends to women: female characters have often been underrepresented or depicted in sexualized ways in FPS games. The FPS has been accused of feeding hyper-masculine power fantasies. Moreover, some argue that the emphasis on the subjective view of the FPS is not purely visual, but ideological. For this reason, FPS games have been accused of promoting a limited perspective centered around the player character, rather than allowing for a diverse range of points of view. Additionally, the fast pace and visceral nature of FPS gameplay allows little time for empathy, reflection or consideration of consequences of violence. Their addictive qualities have also come under attack: FPS games are designed to keep players engaged, which has led to warnings about these games promoting addictive tendencies, especially in children. Finally, competitive online multiplayer FPS games are often plagued by aggressive behavior, bullying, and discrimination in chat/voice communications between players. The term “toxic” is usually cited in these debates. For these – and other – reasons, the FPS genre is considered…

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Matteo Bittanti

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MMF MMXXIII UPDATE: A CHAT WITH SØREN THILO FUNDER

Søren Thilo Funder, GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids), 2021, still

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The Milan Machinima Festival is delighted to present Søren Thilo Funder's groundbreaking work GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids) (2021) for the first time in Italy as a single channel video. Originally conceived as an installation. this work offers a thought-provoking and multi-layered exploration of the intersection between gaming and reality. GAME Engine takes the viewers on a journey to an undisclosed location, where they are invited to an exclusive press meeting with a game developer. Through the perspective of a spokesperson, the work offers a glimpse into a brand new game engine promising a revolutionary experience, with details shrouded in secrecy to protect its intellectual property value.

An artist who specializes in video and installation, Søren Thilo Funder, creates thought-provoking works that blend various cultural tropes, socio-political issues, and popular fictions. These narrative constructions operate within a delicate membrane where fictions and realities intersect, generating fresh interpretations and new meanings. Funder’s oeuvre is steeped in both written and unwritten histories, as well as a deep awareness of the paradoxes and complexities of societal engagement. His art explores temporal displacements, nonlinear storytelling, and the emergence of new, unconventional forms of memory. Through his work, Thilo Funder creates immersive spaces that enable unpredictable encounters with the political, temporal, and recollective. Funder received an MA from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and The School of Art and Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is currently finishing a Doctorate program in Artistic Research at The Art Academy, Department of Contemporary Art, University of Bergen in Norway.

GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids) will be screened exclusively at the MIC - Museum of Interactive Cinema on March 25 2023 in the POLITICS OF GAMING program.

Thilo Funder's Everywhere (2007) was recently featured in VRAL S03.

Matteo Bittanti and Søren Thilo Funder discussed the genesis and evolution of GAME Engine, which has been exhibited internationally through various iterations.

Matteo Bittanti: Can you discuss how the recursive structure of GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids) reflects the repetitive nature of video game playing? Is this looped narrative a defining, quintessential feature of digital games? In our previous conversation, you spoke about the concept of tempor(e)ality, i.e., “the timeliness of reality, or how reality unfolds in accordance to time; not only on a phenomenological or conceptual level but on a socio-political one as well”, and how gaming can be a way for young people to “reclaim time”. However, the looped narrative in games can also give a false sense of progression: the effect is akin to being stuck in time, as seen in TV shows like Russian Doll and films like Groundhog Day. Can you address the tempor(e)ality of GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids)?

Søren Thilo Funder: I’ve been thinking a lot about how the recursive formatting of game levels somehow mirror the way in which we also seem to repeat gestures and passages in our everyday tempor(e)ality, to stay with that term. Especially in my work with CS:GO athletes, we kept circling around the idea of respawning, that is, the reappearance after having been killed, only to set out and repeat the motions that led to your perishing in the first place. GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids) was created specifically for an exhibition revolving around Extreme Sports. Here I proposed eSports as falling under this category. There is an extreme cognitive effort to the athlete that only succeeds if every micro action and choice is done at the exact right moment. And this extremely athletic precision is contrasted by the seated body and almost passive gaze of the athlete. I am really fascinated with the linkage to the excessive motion of the virtual character up on the screen and the physical still body that directs all the action. Another reason why I thought of CS:GO eSports as an extreme sport, is due to the complicated reality of having a sport where the playing field is induced with a political reality outside of the strategic unfolding of the game. I can think of no other sport where the competition is playing out in a field that is textured with the environment of an ongoing political conflict. I was interested in the linkage between what the players experienced cognitively, in the unfolding of their top athletic strategic maneuvering and astounding reaction time, and the visuality of the environment they navigated through, and the political landscape it represents. The respawning, of the CS:GO soldier, in the dark tunnel just outside the Mid Doors of the game level Dust 2, and of The Spokesperson delivering her presentation at the exclusive press meeting, perhaps speaks to the idea of being stuck in the recursive, but also that each respawning offers a possibility to think again, act different, learn from one’s environment. And technically (and conceptually), working with video installations for me is about progression in the looping environment. The video installation loops, the visitor of the installation can move about, leave, re-enter at their own behest. So linear narrative will always be an illusion – or for the apparatus itself to experience without a visitor – the real experience in the visitor will always be about assembling narrative, experiencing loops, selective editing or really respawning with the work. Or the work respawns every time a visitor leaves or enters. I like to use this circumstance quite deliberately, not as a way to bypass the problem of the visitor never experiencing what I had planned to be the experience, but rather to enforce this aspect and let this tempor(e)ality inform my process and my own experience of how narratives can be unfolded. There is a dreamlike sensation in experiencing the loop, that is not the loop. A return to somewhere else. I hope that this looping offers the possibility of reclaiming time – the time experience of the work but also really the time experience of existing in our contemporary tempor(e)ality. Progression is a strange word. It seems to have a certain implication of a productivity that leads towards accumulation, but I believe there could be progression in the looping, the respawning, the staying in the trouble and figuring out what the hell is going on before moving torrentially ahead.

Matteo Bittanti: Through repeated views of GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids), I couldn’t help but come to see a parallel to David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ. The spokesperson/game designer in both works is enigmatic yet captivating, charismatic yet elusive. Did you have Allegra Geller in mind while creating your project, and if so, to what extent was Cronenberg's 1999 reflection on video game culture a source of inspiration for your work?

Søren Thilo Funder: Allegra Geller is (tip of the cap) exactly the character I always imagined behind the game developer in GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids). We never meet her here though: we only see a…

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Matteo Bittanti

Works cited

Søren Thilo Funder

GAME Engine (Orange Bulletproof Kids)

digital video, color, sound, 30’ 02”, 2021, Denmark

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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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EVENT: JASON ROUSE (JUNE 10 - JUNE 23 2022, ONLINE)

KOSSOFF FLEES UKRAINE

digital video/machinima (2160 x 1440), color, sound, 31’ 12”, 2022, Northern Ireland

Created by Jason Rouse

Machinima, landscape painting, first-person shooters, walking simulators, and photogrammetry. Jason Rouse’s new artwork is a triumph of remediation as it incorporates, repurposes, and transforms a variety of media, genres, and aesthetics. It is simultaneously an art history lesson and a meditation on current events delivered via Unity 3D. As the title suggests, this work is about Leon Kossoff (1926–2019), one of the most influential British painters of the XIX century, who was also the son of two Ukrainian refugees fleeing persecution during the 1903-1906 pogrom. Kossoff Flees Ukraine reconstructs that miraculous escape through the forests and mountains of Europe, while updating the narrative to another tragedy, the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The outcome is a document about the past that speaks about the contingent moment.

Jason Rouse (b. 1985) is an Irish artist living and working in Cardiff, Wales. In Rouse’s work, digital and traditional arts converge, creating unexpected results. Rouse has painted game landscapes, developed interactive games, and experimented with generative spaces. Rouse has been a finalist with Lumen Prize for Digital Art, exhibited at the inaugural Westmorland Landscape Prize and selected for the 2020 BEEP Painting Prize. He has received a Wales Art International grant for SWITCHed, an exchange program between Arcade Cardiff and Galerie RDV, Nantes. His album of solo Irish traditional music on Uilleann Pipes has won critical acclaim from both press and peers.

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