PRESENTATION SHOTS: ROC HERMS & OSCAR NODAL

Roc Herms, Postcards from Home, May 6, 2016, IULM, Milan

Oscar Nodal, Glitch as a Narrative Agent in Machinima, May 5, 2016

ARTWORK: FINDING FANON GAIDEN: ALTERNATIVE

Larry Achiampong and David Blandy's new machinima continues the artists' investigation of race, neo-colonialism, and ideology in the 21th century using the world of Grand Theft Auto V as a platform.

Inspired by the writings of political philosopher Frantz Fanon, Finding Fanon Gaiden: Alternative is currently on show at The Gallery, Tyneside Cinema, located in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. The work is a meditation on time, technology, identity, virtuality, and social interaction in the age of pervasive monetization by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and his acolytes. The piece is not intended as a "sequel" to Finding Fanon 2 - currently on display at GAME VIDEO/ART. A SURVEY, but more like a divertissement, a variation on a theme, a "lost" play by Fanon resuscitated in machinima form. A lyrical, poetic rumination on surviving in a technocratic world, Finding Fanon Gaiden: Alternative is set both in natural and urban settings. It communicates both a sense of urgency - highlighted by the characters' frantic motion (running, swimming, climbing) - and stasis, or even paralysis. The work is truly polyphonic: several voices both accompany and (aurally) animate scene of uncanny tranquility. As ever, in the simulated spaces we inhabit, "it is impossible to dream".

MEDIA COVERAGE: WANDERNART ON GAME VIDEO/ART A SURVEY

WANDERNART is an excellent art blog curated by Marinica Digennaro.

VIDEO: ROC HERMS, ART OF DUTY (2014)

Roc Herms, Art of Duty, digital video, color, sound, 2014, 2' 10"

This machinima, which showcases in a playful, tongue-in-cheek mode, several kinds of artworks depicted in the violent first-person shooter Call of Duty Black Ops II, exemplifies Roc Herms' approach to machinima: both irreverent and witty. The sound of intense shooting is juxtaposed to images of paintings, sculptures, posters, photographs, and canvases adorning the various locales of the game. This video forms an ideal triptych with Claire Evans's Modern Warfare and Michiel Van Der Zanden's Pwned Paintings series. 

Below, Herms documents his creative process:

EVENT: ROC HERMS (MAY 6, 2016)

Join us for a fascinating presentation by Spanish artist Roc Herms, whose photographic practice oscillates between different layers of reality, shades of meanings, and fragments of simulations. 

PRESENTATION: ROC HERMS

TITLE: POSTCARDS FROM HOME

DATE & TIME: FRIDAY MAY 6, 2016, 6 - 7.30 PM

LOCATION: ROOM 112 (IULM 1)

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH AND SPANISH

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

PLEASE RSVP (WRITE "ROC HERMS" IN THE SUBJECT LINE - LIMITED SEATING)

THE SPEAKER

Roc Herms (Spain, 1978) has been taking photographs since 2002. Herms explores the increasing digitalization of the human race and the ongoing relationship between the self and its mediated expressions. In 2008, he won the Editor's Award for Excellence given by PHOTO ICON Magazine. Herms’ series Are You Sure You Want To Log Out? was exhibited at the 2014 Noorderlicht Photography Festival: An Ocean of Possibilities. Herms is the author of several books, including Postcards from Home and <Yo> <Yo> <Yo> <Yo> (2007-2015). His most recent work in on display at fotomuseum in Winterthur, Switzerland, as part of the ongoing series SITUATIONS_PLAY.

rocherms.com