Ghost City, atomist empty rendering

Ghost City

Taking a representation of a popular place and stripping out any living presence or natural element not only abstracts its structure, almost shifting it back to an architectural model, it also renders a completely different environment. Hugo Arcier’s “Ghost City” is a two channel video installation, with a 3D rendering that uses the huge and complex set of the world famous video game “Grand Theft Auto V.” It is a black and white rendering, shown from a flying-in-the-middle perspective, which at the same time “un-renders” the parts already crossed at the bottom of the screen. The only elements left are the architectural and graphic details. As in a city where we’ve already visited, memory is tested in recognizing familiar roads and landmarks. Arcier cites “De Rerum Natura” by Lucrece as a source of inspiration, and the “atomist” philosophical approach to the development of the world and its phenomena, described there 2 millennia ago, can still be applied to this work.

 

Hugo Arcier – Ghost City