San Francisco, February 25, 2015 - Today we are releasing our new project, Arthur Rimbaud in Liberty City (also known as Grand Theft Rimbaud), a replay of David Wojnarowicz’ (1954-1992) photographic series Arthur Rimbaud in New York (1978-1979) developed within the virtual spaces ofGrand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games, 2008). Created by COLL.EO in collaboration with Iranian modder Amir Goreyshi, Arthur Rimbaud in Liberty City consists of 48 black-and-white images projected as 35 mm slides and a set of framed photographs. The third in a series of interventions in Grand Theft Auto IV, Rimbaud in Liberty City challenges already fragile notions of the “authentic self”, updating a previous performance in “real life” that prefigured the fluid role-playing of the digital age. Arthur Rimbaud in Liberty City brings issues of authorship, identity, and appropriation into the Game Art sphere.
