Approved: 15.12.2008

Richard Kolker

Artist, Lecturer / academic

Approved: 15.12.2008

My work deals with how we engage the virtual reality of the online role-playing video game. It is now possible to enjoy a rewarding, interactive and sociable virtual life via a computer internet connection and many do; currently numbering around 200 million the global population of 'avatars' (the character which represents the player's onscreen presence) is growing exponentially. Increasingly

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  • Location: London
  • Artforms: Photography
  • Tags: graphics & illustration
 

Artist Statement

My work deals with how we engage the virtual reality of the online role-playing video game. It is now possible to enjoy a rewarding, interactive and sociable virtual life via a computer internet connection and many do; currently numbering around 200 million the global population of 'avatars' (the character which represents the player's onscreen presence) is growing exponentially. Increasingly realistic graphics and the adoption of certain common physical and social conventions add to the deep level of immersion possible in such a potentially alien environment. The six images that comprise 'The Game' portray the moment when the real and the virtual worlds meet. Not physically at the interface of a computer screen, but psychologically as the player recognises the blurring of the real / unreal boundary and is aware of the conflict that exists in his time being divided between the two. Showing male gendered spaces (computer games are still predominantly male orientated) they illustrate imagined potential emotional triggers that remind him of his roles and responsibilities in the real world. The images are constructed using the 3D modelling techniques employed in the video game industry and similarly rendered with photographic textures to give them a semi-photoreal appearance. But instead of portraying the escapist fantasy sought in the online world they reflect the more mundane nature of the player's everyday life. Seen from the first person perspective of many avatar based games in which the viewer is both subject and participant; the images suggest situations of irreconciliation to the life of an inconsequential avatar and make public and permanent the transient private space of the internet. Mounted behind the plastic glossiness of Perspex they emphasise and objectify the 'perfect' aesthetic of the digital experience.

CV & Education

Qualifications and training 2008 - MA Photography (Distinction), London College of Communication, University of the Arts London