Roc Herms, Study of Perspective, 2015

In Study of Perspective Roc Herms navigates the world of GTA V, re-enacting Ai Weiwei’s photographic series of the same name. In the original work, the Chinese artist playfully used the pretext of studying perspective through the camera lens by placing his middle finger in the foreground. In the background, at the receiving end of the artist’s gesture – and as a connected element for the alleged perspective study – lie the global symbols of power. From the White House in Washington DC to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, from the Reichstag in Berlin to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, all major global landmarks become the victims of the artist’s provocative statement of political opposition.

Herms appropriates and hijacks Ai Weiwei’s playful critique by flipping the middle finger of the game main character within GTA V’s exaggerated and grotesque replica of California. Using a first-person view and the in-game smartphone camera, the artist raises its opposition against a variety of backgrounds that symbolise the places of power within the game. Police cars, banks, government buildings, billboards, Los Santos’ skyline and even the Vinewood sign mocking the original Hollywood letters overlooking Los Angeles.

Through this re-enactment, Study of Perspective extends the original photographic joke to the game world, while on the other hand importing simple moments of protest within the simulated environments of Los Santos. Lost between the layers of digital mediation and photographic reference, the middle finger becomes equally a part of the game’s parody while simultaneously a symbolic act of protest within the virtual world.

More by Roc Herms: rocherms.com