Natalia Carminati, a Fire Escape artist, captivates us with the political depth of her concepts and flawless cross-disciplinary technique. We have been working together on several projects since 2015. The concept development of her practice is based on critical thinking of contemporary culture, postcolonial theory, biotechnology, and food sovereignty. Natalia develops her projects by creating multisensory devices across video, sound experimentation, painting, installation, performance and videogame.
This article explores the protagonism of the videogames and its relationship with her practice. Nowadays the intersection of contemporary art and video games has become an increasingly fascinating and dynamic field. Both mediums share a common ground regarding creativity, storytelling, and immersive experiences. Moreover, it presents her two art-videogames, Super Mario Corn and Pac-Art.
Furthermore, last week, Natalia has launched Super Mario Corn at the Michigan State University Museum participating in Food Fight! group show. Food Fight! invites you to explore the social, environmental, political, and economic relationships humans have with food, and uncover the complex dynamics that shape our food systems.
Let’s start exploring about Natalia’s artistic practice and her connections with the video game as an artistic tool discipline.
F.E. As a multidisciplinary artist, how does your creative process work? the statement comes first and then you find the best discipline?
N.C. Indeed, my typical approach involves initiating the project with an initial phase focused on research. This phase serves as the foundation for conceptualizing the project, during which I engage in speculative exploration and develop free-form ideas and processes. Subsequently, in an organic response to the insights gained from the research, I navigate towards a resolution by fostering a specific interdisciplinary dialogue.
F.E. What attracts you to use video games to express art ideas?
N.C. I’m genuinely fascinated by the interaction and dialogue that artworks can spark with the audience. In this regard, the video game creates a dynamic of transgenerational interaction, engaging people spontaneously. Both Super Mario Corn and Pac-Art draw inspiration from classic video games that continue to be popular even years after their creation. I am interested in the emotional and vital connection a participant has with these video games, serving as an invitation to play. The experience then involves going through the reinterpretation of the elements within the game.
Super Mario Corn consolidates the findings from my research project, “The Corn: Sacred Food to the Business of Hunger,” supported by the research and innovation arts scholarship from the Catalonian Government. In this instance, participants take centre stage in an experience that unveils the primary externalities of the dominant agri-food model through the cultivation of corn.
F.E. Do you believe video games can be art? or artists can use video games as another art discipline, and why?
N.C. Absolutely. Numerous contemporary artists are delving into the convergence of contemporary art language and video games, experimenting with diverse methods in their artistic practice. This involves everything from the manipulation of bodies through alternative controllers to the exploration of solo and collective experiences, visual symbology, and the nature of installations. I find the versatility of this tool, simultaneously playful and political, to be particularly intriguing.
SUPER MARIO CORN
Natalia Carminati, Carlos Carbonell (programming) and Daniel Moreno Roldán (audio design), have created Super Mario Corn. A project based on the game “Super Mario Bros”. However, this time the art game examines modern agricultural practices around corn, illustrating how environmental and human factors affect production and impact the wider ecosystem. Set in the maize (corn) kingdom, you encounter the threats of an altered ecosystem in search of ways to reverse negative impacts on the environment and produce a healthy crop. On your way, you will encounter pollinators and pests, wild vegetation and monocultures, fertile and polluted land, natural and artificial environments, and interactive elements that impact the ecosystem and your overall health.
Super Mario Corn. Images courtesy of the artist. Barcelona, 2023.
PAC-ART
Pac-Art is an interactive installation that shows how the power struggle governs the relations among the beings of our human species.
On the one hand, the installation shows two oil-painted versions of Goya’s Saturn as a current reflection of the tacit cannibalism that interweaves human relations. At the same time, these paintings of Saturn on the side panels of the cabinet retrieve the belief that Goya originally painted Saturn with his penis up – later hidden by El Prado’s conservation department when transferred onto canvas. In this way, Pac-Art refers to the history of art and classical mythology to explain how the greed for power has been part of the human essence throughout time.
On the other hand, Pac-Art is a version of the top-rated Arcade video game Pac-Man. In this case, Pac-Man was transformed into an artist who has to devour a famous work of art and flee from ghost-artists who threaten him. Four art pills give Pac-Art the power to devour whatever he finds on his way. The objective of Pac-Art is to eat as many ghost-artists, art pills and works of art as possible to accumulate points that can be registered in a high score. Just as it happens in the real world, the participants enter a competition with themselves and other players becoming participants in the dynamics of an increasingly competitive society.
Pac-Art. Images and video courtesy of the artist. Barcelona, 2016.
The intersection of contemporary art and video games continues to evolve, with artists and game developers pushing boundaries and challenging preconceived notions of what constitutes art and entertainment. As technology advances, new possibilities for creative expression in the realm of video games are likely to emerge, further enriching the intersection of these two dynamic forms of art.
Anna García Solana for Fire Escape Contemporary Art. Melbourne/Barcelona 2024.