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".
