Carson Lynn, A bronze anvil falls to the earth., digital video, color, sound, 6’ 35”, 2023.
Debuting in the Slot Machinima program at MMF MMXXIV, A bronze anvil falls to the earth. marks a seminal moment in Carson Lynn’s oeuvre. This work masterfully synthesizes digital artistry, game-based performance, and socio-political discourse into a singular, compelling narrative. Crafted in 2023, with a duration just shy of seven minutes, it epitomizes the transformative potential of machinima as a platform for both artistic innovation and poignant political dialogue.
In A bronze anvil falls to the earth., Lynn employs gameplay as a performative act, leveraging the dark, violent, feral world of Bloodborne to weave a narrative rich in Greek mythology and fueled by a palpable queer rage. This machinima blends the grim aesthetics and challenging gameplay of a video game renowned for its gothic environments, eldritch horrors, and brutally unforgiving combat with themes of resistance, suffering, and defiance against oppressive forces. Bloodborne’s setting, Yharnam, a cursed city plagued by a mysterious blood-borne disease transforming its inhabitants into beasts, serves as the perfect backdrop for Lynn’s counter narrative and relentless slaughter. The game’s emphasis on solitary exploration and the constant threat of death mirror the solitary struggle against the “blood-drunk beasts”, a metaphor for the violence and hatred faced by queer and trans individuals in the current environment. That is, the intense battles serve as a metaphor for the LGBTQ+ community’s real-world struggles against oppression, emphasizing the significance of perseverance and the quest for acceptance…
Matteo Bittanti
Works cited
Carson Lynn, A bronze anvil falls to the earth., digital video, color, sound, 6’ 35”, 2023.
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