Downtime / Sky above, voice within (2021)

Browsing Google Maps in search of a good resting place between quests.

(1 min version)

24-hr installation version (sky above, voice within)

There's an alternative version consisting of multiple looped videos with different light conditions that can be assembled into a 24hr video installation where the world of Skyrim corresponds to time changes in the real world its exhibited in. It was displayed in this form on an outdoor screen in Bologna, Italy in 2021.

Text about the installation by curator Bob Bicknell-Knight: 

"After spending, sometimes hours at a time, looking directly into the bright light of a screen, immersed within the virtual world of a video game, I might get up and stretch, go to the bathroom or make myself a snack. During these moments, when the controller is still and the game is waiting for me to return, the digital character will begin cycling through a series of idle animations; subtle movements indicating their vegetative state, either bored by the brief pause in action or excited to regain some sort of autonomy over their body.
Idle animations often provide the player with delicate hints at the game character’s personality traits, contributing to the creation of a realistic and well-developed identity, sometimes more so than a forced cutscene ever could. During these moments of downtime the game world continues to advance onwards, a complex ecosystem refusing to pause in spite of it being built as a private playground for the player character.
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Petra Szemán is an artist who uses animation to explore the fictional elements of our collective existence, poking holes in physical and digital space by inserting a virtual version of themself into different realities. For 𝘚𝘬𝘺 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 Szemán has created a 24-hour video compilation which positions their digital character Yourself in different locations within the popular 2011 video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, synchronised to replicate the time of day in the physical world.
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Throughout the 24-hour period the character of Yourself, Szemán’s virtual replica, sits idle, watching the aesthetics of time distort the digital landscapes, waiting for an unknown player to return so that they can continue on their quest. 𝘚𝘬𝘺 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 welcomes and rewards those who take the time to observe and return to the exhibition throughout its duration, hinting at the hidden depths to the character of Yourself, and Szemán’s own prolific video-based practice."

Sky Above, Voice Within, by Petra Szemán, curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight was the screening broadcast on the Mock Jungle screen from 14th June to 11th July 2021, 24h.
Mock Jungle, a project by Metoché included in the institutional program of ART CITY Bologna 2021 promoted by the Municipality of Bologna as part of Bologna Estate, continues its broadcasts from the Chapel of Santa Maria dei Carcerati in Palazzo Re Enzo, Piazza del Nettuno 1.