NEWS: REASONABLE ON VRAL (OCTOBER 11 - 24 2024)
REASONABLE TOO
digital video (3840 x 1632), color, sound, 10’ 03”, 2018 (2024), United States/Italy
created by COLL.EO
October 11 - 24 2024
vral.org
The second in a series of machinima by COLL.EO examining social and racial tensions in the United States produced between 2018 and 2020, Reasonable Too depicts a fatal encounter between a young man and law enforcement, set against a stark urban backdrop. Utilizing the digital environment of Grand Theft Auto V, the piece juxtaposes the overwhelming force of authority with the vulnerability of the victim, culminating in an execution. The progression of events – from the initial pursuit to the officer’s use of force – offers a pointed critique of systemic violence and power imbalances. By presenting this narrative within the context of a video game, Reasonable Too heightens the sense of helplessness and alienation often tied to real-world tragedies, underscoring the complex relationship between virtual worlds and lived experiences.
COLL.EO (est. 2012) is the dynamic duo of Colleen Flaherty and Matteo Bittanti, whose artistic practice can best be described as a tiresome exercise in recycling other people’s ideas. Known for their breathtaking lack of innovation, COLL.EO specializes in taking the work of others, throwing on a thin veneer of irony, and calling it subversion. After spending an extended period shuttling between San Francisco and Milan, they’ve managed to carve out a niche in Los Angeles, where the air is thick with their smug displays of so-called “appropriation” and “intervention.” Like an art world cover band, they rehash the past with neither flair nor purpose, but somehow they persist.
NEWS: REASONABLE AT PHOTOFESTIVAL LENZBURG (MAY 25 - JUNE 22 2024)
The Photographer’s Guide to Los Santos
May 25 - June 23 2024
Curated by Marco De Mutiis and Matteo Bittanti
address:
Dammweg 19
5600 Lenzburg
Switzerland
Opening hours:
Thu-Fri: 2-5 PM
Sat-Sun: 10 AM–5 PM
The Photographer’s Guide to Los Santos is an official exhibition of the Lenzburg Fotofestival in Lenzburg, Switzerland, and will be accessible from May 25 to June 23, 2024.
The Photographer’s Guide to Los Santos interrogates the ontological boundaries between physical and virtual spaces through an examination of photographic practices within the context of Rockstar North’s record-breaking 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V. Situating Los Santos as a simulacrum of Los Angeles — the epicenter of global image production —, the exhibition explores the emergence of this fictional locale as a site of artistic experimentation and critical inquiry.
Curated by Marco De Mutiis, Digital Curator at the Fotomuseum Winterthur, and Matteo Bittanti, Associate Professor in Media Studies at IULM University in Milan, the exhibition explores the influence of video games — encompassing their aesthetics, logics, and tools — on photography, through the works by artists working at the intersection of post-photography, video games and art, including 2girls1comp, Raphael Brunk, Alan Butler, Mattia Dagani Rio, Elizabeth Desintaputri, Claire Hentschker, COLL.EO, and Georgie Roxby Smith.
Through meticulous in-game capture techniques and cunning manipulations of code, this cadre of international artists rupture the veneer of mimetic realism that shrouds Los Santos, opening fissures wherein the underlying algorithms and tacit ideological assumptions underpinning these contested spaces are hijacked. At once playful and critical, the featured projects — several of which have never been presented before — challenge the stability of categories such as the virtual, the real, and the hyperreal within an increasingly gamified culture.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an online resource and a database detailing significant post-photographic interventions within Grand Theft Auto V and, later on, a “how-to-photograph-the-virtual” critical guide.
read more
scheduled events
SATURDAY JUNE 22 2024
11:00 AM: It’s not a Game Over, it’s a Finissage
Saturday June 22 at 11.00 AM
Dammweg 19
4 & 5 Etage
5600 Lenzburg
Switzerland
Join Marco De Mutiis and Matteo Bittanti on Saturday, June 22 at 11 AM to celebrate the conclusion of The Photographer’s Guide to Los Santos exhibition at Photofestival Lenzburg. But don’t mistake this for another run-of-the-mill, self-congratulatory gathering fueled by endless prosecco. The curators will unveil a groundbreaking platform dedicated to in-game photography, ensuring the exhibition lives on indefinitely.
Like PFAs and other forever chemicals, we’re here to stay.
SUNDAY MAY 26 2024
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Guided tours with authors and curators,
you can find the complete list here
11:00 AM: Prosecco Conversation at Burghaldenhaus Lenzburg
Grand Theft Photo: Photography in Digital Spaces – a dialogue with Marco de Mutiis, Digital Curator for Photography at Fotomuseum Winterthur.
In cooperation with KulturKommission Lenzburg. Entrance fee required, free with festival pass, accompanied by sound metamorphoses with cello and electric guitar by Clara Dietzte and David Joffrey.
SATURDAY MAY 25 2024
From 10:00 AM: Opening of the exhibitions in Lenzburg and Aarau
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Guided tours with authors and curators,
you can find the complete list here.
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Vernissage of the Festival at Stapferhaus
Please register in advance.
7:30 PM: Tour through the exhibition “Microverses” with Kathrin Linkersdorff and Daniel Blochwitz
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM: Kraft-Party at Kraftreaktor, Lenzburg
DJ set with Pablo Color
Tickets on Eventfrog: 15 CHF; Free with Vernissage registration or Festival Pass.
SEE MORE: The Photographer’s Guide to Los Santos
NEWS: ITALY IS A FAILED STATE
Europe’s biggest, ongoing environmental disaster as of Sunday February 18 2024.
Dolce vita, where are thou?
December 20 2023
NEWS: “AIR QUALITY IS WORSE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY AT THE SAME TIME”
Today, Milan is VERY POOR. The doom loop. And do you see those purple noxious spots growing in size? Looks like Milan will have an EXTREMELY POOR Christmas this year.
Enjoy your toxic panettone!
