COLL.EO's 2013 project Grand Theft Vito was featured in a talk by Raúl Berrueco aka VJ Entter titled Art in the Age of Grand Theft Auto during the first edition of Lowtoy Festival Internacional de 8 Bit & DIY Electrònica de Barcelona, Spain, entirely dedicated to Game Art (pixel art, glitch, chiptunes and more). The even took place between September 25 and 27, 2014 at the Fundació AAVC Hangar - Emilia Coranty 16 Barcelona.
Grand Theft Vito is a modded version of Grand Theft Auto IV which allows the user to explore Liberty City in the guise of performance artist, architect, writer and philosopher Vito Acconci (b. 1940). As Spanish journalist pantallapartida writes,
"En este sentido es muy interesante Grand Theft Vito del colectivo COLL.EO, un mod para la cuarta entrega de la serie de Rockstar donde Niko Bellic es sustituido por una versión digital del poeta y artista Vito Arcconci. Con el nuevo avatar no vamos pegando tiros ni destrozando el mobiliario urbano con un coche, pero eso no significa que no podamos seguir siendo un elemento de agitación en Liberty City, aunque sea de otra manera. Esta modificación permite representar varias performances clásicas del artista neoyorquino, reclamando, en el proceso, lo virtual como un espacio tan válido como lo “real” para el discurso político, poético y la protesta social." (pantallapartida)
COLL.EO, Grand Theft Vito, 2013.
Video: 1 minute gameplay footage from Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games, 2008). Soundtrack: An excerpt from Vito Acconci/Acconci Studio: Interiors. Buildings. Parks. (2004) by Julia Loktev (b. 1969). Voice over: Vito Acconci.
COLL.EO's project was documented in a book published by CONCRETE PRESS. Simply titled Grand Theft Vito, the book provides additional insights into the production of the piece.
LINK: Grand Theft Vito - performance
LINK: Grand Theft Vito - book
LINK: Lowtoy Festival, a review (in Spanish)