NICK CROCKETT
MARCH 15-21 2021/15-21 MARZO 2021 (ONLINE)
FIRE UNDEGROUND
machinima/digital video, color, sound, 15’, 2020. United States.
Featuring original music by Sarah Louise Henson
“Rime” by Sarah Louise Henson, courtesy Thrill Jockey Records
This project was made possible with support from the Carnegie Mellon School of Art, the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art at the Frontier, and a Carnegie Mellon Graduate Education GuSH Research Grant.
Film digitale animato, Fire Underground mostra foreste abbandonate, proto-rettili striscianti e inferni ctonici, metafore della cultura del lavoro, della storia naturale e del folklore. Concepito e sviluppato con un motore di gioco, il progetto è permeato da una logica videoludica e presenta personaggi non giocanti semi-autonomi, una fisica ragdoll e modelli simulativi. Ispirandosi a tradizioni artigianali come il modellismo e i wargame in miniatura, personaggi e oggetti di scena sono stati realizzati con materiali quali argilla, cartone, fogli di alluminio e schiuma isolante, successivamente catturati digitalmente attraverso la fotogrammetria.
Fire Underground is an animated fantasy which pitches myths of forgotten forests, crawling proto-reptiles, and chthonic infernos against labor history, natural history, and folk culture. The project was originally conceived and developed with a game engine. Several scenes display video game-like logic, featuring semi-autonomous non-player characters, ragdoll physics, and deterministic, clock-like simulation. Inspired by craft traditions like model railroading and miniature wargaming, most characters and props were made out of physical materials like clay, cardboard, aluminum foil, and insulation foam and captured with photogrammetry.
L’ARTISTA
Nick Crockett è un artista originario di una cittadina situata ai piedi dell’arco montuoso della Sierra Nevada in California, specializzato nella produzione di videogiochi sperimentali e animazioni digitali. Crockett ha conseguito una laurea in Design/Media Art presso l’Università della California, Los Angeles e un MFA presso la Carnegie Mellon School of Art di Pittsburgh.
THE ARTIST
Nick Crockett is an artist from a former gold mining town in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains who makes experimental games and animation. Nick holds a BA in Design/Media Art from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MFA from the Carnegie Mellon School of Art in Pittsburgh.