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ARTICLE: SØREN THILO FUNDER'S CHILDREN'S GAMES (PUZZLED)

Søren Thilo Funder, still from Children's Games (Puzzled) - FACTORY WORKERS UNITE, HD Video installation, 48'00", Dimensions Variable, 2019.

Working through the puzzle game.

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In his unique exploration of the intersection of play, community, and knowledge production, Søren Thilo Funder and Tina Helen aka FACTORY WORKERS UNITED document the playful assemblage of a 4000-piece jigsaw puzzle inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder's iconic painting Children's Games (1560). Titled Children's Games (Puzzled) (2019), this immersive video captures the artists and a diverse group of collaborators, adults and children, gathering around the seemingly mundane activity of piecing together a puzzle. Filmed from a bird's-eye view, the slow and deliberate process of (re)constructing the image from a myriad of fragments becomes a site for rich conversation and collective reflection.

The choice is not random: with Children's Games (1560), Pieter Bruegel the Elder offers a kaleidoscopic vision of childhood play, filled with an astonishing array of activities and characters. Yet, beneath the surface of this charming and whimsical scene lies a darker undertone. The chaotic jumble of bodies and games seems to suggest a world in which innocence and joy are constantly under threat from the violence and disorder that lurks just out of sight. Despite the painting's undeniable technical mastery and richly detailed composition, it is this underlying tension between play and danger that makes Children's Games such a powerful and enduring work of art. Bruegel's vision of childhood, with all its contradictions and complexities, remains as relevant and provocative today as it was when it was first painted over four centuries ago.

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Matteo Bittanti

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

ARTICLE: SØREN THILO FUNDER'S SANDBOX LIFE IS HELL

Søren Thilo Funder, cop2_cit (sandbox life is hell), Computer Generated Image, Photographic Print, Light box, 84x210cm, 2021

Hell is other people’s skins.

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In his 2021 thought-provoking artwork cop2_cit (sandbox life is hell), Søren Thilo Funder presents us with a simulacrum of a riot cop, constructed entirely from elements of a popular video game, Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar Games, 2013). This post modern twist on traditional portraiture challenges us to consider the role of simulation and representation in contemporary art. The avatar is presented as a deconstructed object, inviting the viewer to explore - and perhaps reassemble - its various components. From weapons to fabrics, each element is laid out for the viewer to piece together, offering an apparently playful, imaginative view into the world of game-based simulations. cop2_cit (sandbox life is hell) urges us to question the relationship between reality and simulation, and the ways in which games and other digital media can shape our perceptions of the world. 

Thilo Funder reframes the notion of custom-made skins, that is, visual modifications to the appearance of an object in a digital environment, such as a video game or virtual reality simulation. In the context of video games, skins are often used to customize the appearance of playable characters or objects in the game world. They may be created by the game developers or by individual players, using custom software or other tools. Custom-made skins can take many forms, from simple color changes to more complex designs that incorporate new textures, patterns, or even three-dimensional models. Skins can be created using a variety of tools and techniques, including digital painting, 3D modeling software, and image editing programs. Once created, skins can be shared online and downloaded by other players, allowing for a vibrant and diverse ecosystem of user-generated content. There's a long tradition within the context of game art to redesign skins in order to appropriate, alter, and subvert the ideology inherent to a video game…

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Matteo Bittanti

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

VIDEO: JAKE COURI'S JETTISONED (2022)

Cargo cult

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Throughout this week, we’ll be exploring Jake Couri’s oeuvre. His remarkable A Precarious Night at Plumb Point is currently on display on VRAL.

We strongly recommend watching this video in full screen while wearing headphones.

Jettison: to get rid of as superfluous or encumbering: omit or forgo as part of a plan or as the result of some other decision; to drop (cargo) to lighten a ship's load in time of distress; to drop from an aircraft or spacecraft in flight.

Jake Couri's single-channel video is a post-human meditation of the idea of descent and arrival. Based on the G-11 Cargo Parachute Assembly, developed primarily for platform airdrops - as of today, the only cargo parachute of this size which is readily available for military use with a maximum payload of 5000 lbs (2267.9 kg) - the piece follows a cluster of three canopies as they slowly and gracefully descend through the atmosphere, giving the viewer the unique perspective of the payload itself. As the canopies idle in the emptiness of space, the clouds slowly disintegrate and reappear in a mesmerizing simulation of the in-between state of descent…

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Matteo Bittanti

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

VIDEO: JAKE COURI'S A STONE'S THROW (2022)

When the grid leads to grinding, appendices without bodies produce immaterial labor.

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Throughout the course of this week, we'll be exploring Jake Couri’s oeuvre. His latest work, A Precarious Night at Plumb Point is currently on display on VRAL.

Couri’s A Stone's Throw (2022) delves into the rich historical underpinnings of art history, drawing inspiration from the late Sixteenth-century print series Nova Reperta, illustrating recent geographical discoveries and various scientific inventions of the time. Introduced during a period of intense cultural and technological ferment, Nova Reperta showcases the spirit of innovation and creative experimentation of the late Renaissance. Through its meticulous and highly detailed engravings, it captured the excitement and energy of this historical moment, providing a visual testament to the artists and inventors who pushed the boundaries of illustration as an art form. 

Commissioned by Luigi Alamani between 1587 and 1589, the Nova Reperta series includes twenty prints numbered in the margins. The plates were designated by Jan Van Der Straet then engraved and published by Philippe Galle, his son Theodore and Jan Collaert in Antwerp. In addition to the engravings devoted to the discovery of the New World, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Amerigo Vespucci to whom America owes its name, the rest of the collection - nineteen prints overall - illustrates man's progress in different areas of knowledge such as copper engraving, the compass, sugar refinery, distillation, the clockwork, and the oil painting technique.

Couri reinterpreted Nova Reperta through the lens of the digital medium - which he aligns with the aforementioned inventions - situating it within the framework of simulation games. The outcome, A Stone's Throw, is, in many ways, an update or, rather, a re-imagining, imbued with a melancholic and uncanny quality that invites the viewer to engage with the piece on a more philosophical level beyond its obvious visual appeal, the repetitive, mesmerizing patterns…

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Matteo Bittanti

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