12/10 2021
Mario Mu – ”Sites of Encounter (Act 2, Scene 2)” | Summer Sessions 2021
During the two-month Summer Sessions 2021 residency in V2_ Lab for Unstable Media (Rotterdam), Mario Mu has developed the piece Sites Of Encounter (Act 2, Scene 2), a video installation that deals with the relationship between contemporary working conditions and implementation of games into the human-made environment. The piece was exhibited on September 10, 2021 within the Kunstavond XL: Summer Sessions 2021 in V2_. The project was realized as part of the Summer Sessions Talent Development Network in a co-production of Metamedia Association and V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media.
Sites Of Encounter (Act 2, Scene 2) is a part of film trilogy which explores the relationship between contemporary working conditions and implementing games into human-made environment. The subject of the cycle is spatial experience of place connected to the structure of emotion, and consists of a film arrangement produced within computer video game software. The main plot of this part of the cycle follows the construction of the Pelješac Bridge as an important geopolitical point on the external border of the European Union. In the absence of human actors, as in the story of a random dream or in connection with memories, the atmosphere comes and goes, revealing carefully constructed layers of moving image sequences. While constantly adjusting and reducing the volume of silence relative to the dominant narratives of our working conditions, this imaginary landscape suggests a pleasant boredom resulting from the tension between action and stagnation, suggestive rhythmic repetitions, and a weightless perspective.
Mario Mu is a visual artist and director living in Berlin. He works on various research projects that are often constructed as extended gaming platforms. With the occasional incorporation of sound and drawings, his practice mainly ranges between game design, 3D animation and performance. He completed his undergraduate studies in Zagreb at the Academy of Fine Arts and his master’s degree in fine arts at the University of the Arts in Berlin. During 2016 and 2017 he was an active member of the Research Center for the Proxy Politics in Berlin, and since 2017 he has worked on a number of events as an author and collaborator at MAAT in Lisbon, Play Co in London, Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam , Ufer Studios, Galerie gr_und and Silent Green in Berlin, MSU, Pogon and GMK in Zagreb, among others. Digital and online projects include collaborations with The Carillon, BoCA Biennial, Milan Machinima Festival, Gamescenes, Itch.io, Gestalten Publishing, FACT Magazine, Wrong Biennale, The School of Machines, Making & Make-Believe, Lima Sky, Pivilion and Inquiry Inc. .
Summer Sessions are short-term international residencies for young artists that are organized by a network of cultural organizations all over the world. During the program, artists will work in a highly productive atmosphere in which continuous support, feedback and expert supervision is offered. The main idea of the residencies is to help artists jump-start their professional practice by offering them support from a local sponsor to go abroad for a production residency at a host institute.
Partners: V2_Lab for the Unstable Media, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Hangar.org, Art Center Nabi, Points Center for Contemporary Art, Winzavod, ESPRONCEDA, Schmiede, Sardegna Teatro, Kilowatt, Sineglossa, iMAL, Tabakalera
Photography: Fenna de Jong, Mario Mu
