Purple Television
[November 22 2013] : art
In the Realms of Gold by Jon Rafman
In Jon Rafman’s series of enchanting and hypnotic videos inspired by poetic masterpieces, images of extreme technological modernity contrast with virtual representations of bucolic, idyllic and classical landscapes. In The Realms of Gold, alternative possibilities are explored as a first person shooter video meets a nature documentary. Rafman’s video evokes the world of the hero-shooter intent on defeating the other, yet it lingers on pastoral scenes of exquisite beauty. The narrative it contains is implied but is never revealed. Thus Rafman continues his exploration of the impact of our interactions in the cyber and virtual world on notions of our notions of beauty and alienation, nostalgia and loss, and decay and destruction.
