Elaine Hoey

Animated Positions

FILE Sao Paulo 2019 |  Anima +
Electronic Language International Festival

 

 

This work draws reference from 19th century European nationalist paintings and explores the role of art in the portrayal of jingoistic patriotic ideals that have become culturally symbolic in the formation of the nation state. This piece re-animates the war-like stances and positions of bodies found within these paintings, using character animation taken from the video game Call of Duty. The work challenges notions of nostalgia for the nation state, creating a contemporary critique of the underlying violence that underpins much of today’s nationalistic ideologies.

Bio.

Elaine Hoey works mainly with interactive installations, appropriating contemporary digital art practices and aesthetics to explore the politics of digital humanity and our evolving relationship with the screen. As we become increasingly digitally dependent, her work reminds us of the political stakes, not only of the images the media reveals, but in the way our eyes, and bodies encounter them. Making use of virtual reality technology she immerses the viewer in performative and often uncomfortable roles within her digitally constructed worlds, exploring the potential of mediated presence as an experience capable of challenging perceptions of the virtual and the real.