Second Order Reality is a project that envisions the construction of a work of art under the form of a video game inspired by the text La Tentation de Saint Antoine by Gustave Flaubert, which describes the repeated hallucinatory states experienced by its protagonist. These liminal spaces can be associated with virtual experiences where the perception of the body and that of the surrounding environment are presented in altered ways. The narrative of the project derives from a collaboration with a group of children aged 8 to 12 years old, and aims to explore the potential of the virtual environment as a hybrid perceptual experience.
We will present The Stone Monkey (2023), a video work that resulted from the first iterations of the workshop. It was developed through two forms of media narrative: a CGI video trailer and a navigable VR environment that recounts the journey of a small monkey who suddenly witnesses certain parts of its body undergoing a slow process of petrification without any apparent reason and embarks on an initiatory path of healing. The resulting story stems from the collaboration with children and explores the potential of the virtual to engage the visitor in a hybrid perceptual experience.
A workshop will then be held by artist Carola Bonfili, where she will work alongside children aged 6-10 years old to design of a video game, following the existing narrative from past iterations of the workshop. (Workshop on Sunday 19th of November, from 12-14h. To sign up, write to us at hello@thegreenparrot.org)
This project is supported by the Italian Council (2022), the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity, Italian Ministry of Culture.
This workshop and exhibition will be held at La Capella, as part of the Concèntric programme, and presented within the framework of LOOP video art Festival in Barcelona.
Project curated by Daniela Cotimbo and Ilaria Gianni.
