ROCK, STAR, NORTH
Digital video (1920 x 1080), color, sound, 23’ 05”, 2016-2022, Scotland
Created by Calum Rodger
In 2016, inspired by Basho, William Wordsworth and Nan Shepherd, Glasgow-based poet Calum Rodger undertook a poetic odyssey inside San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto V’s hyperreal replica of California. In 2017, he chronicled his journey in a 20-minute performance poem titled Rock, Star, North, which premiered at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh in May of that year. In 2021, the poem achieved its final form: a machinipoem, composed entirely of footage from the game, alongside an all-new reading and updated text, which we are now presenting as part of VRAL S03.
Calum Rodger is a Glasgow-based poet working in print, performance and digital forms. He was Scottish National Slam Champion 2019 and holds a Doctorate in Scottish Literature from the University of Glasgow. In the last few years, he has worked extensively at the intersection of poetry and gaming.
FACING THE WOLF
machinima/digital video (1600 x 900), color, sound, 19’ 26” (chapter I: 5’ 15”, chapter II: 5’ 21”, chapter III: 8’ 50”), 2021, United Kingdom.
Created by Iain Douglas and Mark Coverdale
Facing the wolf is a machinima trilogy produced over the course of 2021 by appropriating and repurposing Grand Theft Auto V. The artists decontextualized the characters and locations of the original video game to tell a story of redemption and reconciliation, so that an uneasy truce with the past may be reached. In broad terms, these three videos reflect on war, loss, grief, and class struggle, themes which never seem to be as far away as they ought to be. As war has now become a reality for millions of people in Europe, Facing the wolf can be seen as a cautionary tale. Or, perhaps, a premonition.
Iain Douglas is an artist working with machinima, game engines, film, and materials like paint and plaster. Iain’s practice explores the themes of cultural and individual loss. For more information, please visit his website.
Mark Coverdale is a widely published performance poet, writing from the picket line, art gallery, and the terraces. Mark’s poems for these machinima are drawn from his interests in domestic industrial decline and the troubled events of the New European East. He lives and works in London. For more information visit his website.
