The end of the virtual world

source: robertoverweg

I have a background in graphic design, graduated from ArtEZ Arnhem, worked in London at CHK design and Koeweiden Postma in Amsterdam. Started my own studio in 2009. My design skills give me the possibility to visualize and conceptualize almost every idea I have. I am schooled in concept thinking which enables me to come up with concepts for a brief or autonomous project in a quick way. I understand how to unfold a concept on to different layers and different media. I like to explore and play with new technologies and see them often as a (hidden) integrated part of a concept or campaign.

In my teaching I like to inspire people and shake things up always with a little bit of humor. I teach at the Academie van bouwkunst Arnhem. I give lectures at different universities and art academies like: Yonsei University (seoul), Kaist, (seoul) Willem De Kooning (Rotterdam)

As an artist I take photo’s in virtual world environments. These environments appear in first and third person shooter games but I see them operating as a direct extension of the physical world, revealing the new public space of contemporary society. I exhibit all over the world ranging from L.A.,Berlin,Amsterdam to Seoul.

I have been doing this since 2007.
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source: creativeapplications

Robert Overweg is a photographer in the virtual world who explores the fading border between the virtual and physical. He photographs the virtual the same way as he is doing in the real world. Scenes captured, in games, are atmospheric, mesmerising and beautiful. Mostly abandoned levels, he captures elegance we tend to pass by when playing games. Where game designers intentionally elevate certain moments in the games by introducing special effects, Robert captures the beauty in the blanks, glitches and the left overs and the digitally abandoned.

By taking the photographs out of their context of the virtual world and blowing them up in a size of 144cm by 81cm (or larger) the typical aesthetics of games are laid bare. At first glance the photograph seems to represent the physical world really well. After further inspection you might see the identical air conditioners on the roof both have the exact same rust and scratch marks, the brick pattern on the wall on the right has non fitting patterns. The most obvious example is the two colliding roads whom are pasted together.
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source: floobynooby

This series of pictures coming from popular FPS games (Left 4 dead 2, Half-life 2, Counter-Strike & Modern Warfare 2) is called « The End of the Virtual World ». They show how these kind of universes sometimes abruptly end. This is kind of funny, because a lot of players experienced the same thing, discovering that the end of the street in the game they’re playing disappears in nowhere, reminding you that you beloved virtual world is… Well, virtual. Robert Overweg is specialized in the photography of virtual worlds. As he claims on his site, he believes those worlds are the new public spaces, an extension of the physical world that deserves to be photographed just as much as the real world.

You’ll find on his website shotbyrobert.com his other works on the virtual worlds. A really interesting reflection between virtual reality and art.
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source: retinadesgastada

Robert Overweg é um fotógrafo. Seu trabalho pode ser visto agora em uma exibição em Amsterdam e em agosto participará de um festival de arte na Alemanha. Ao contrário de seus colegas de profissão, Overweg não usa máquina fotográfica, não usa modelos, não captura ou interpreta o mundo em que vivemos. Overweg é um fotógrafo do virtual.
Ele considera os universos tridimensionais dos jogos de primeira e terceira pessoa como “novos espaços públicos da sociedade contemporânea e como uma extensão direta do mundo físico”. Overweg se movimenta pelas paisagens digitais de títulos como Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, GTA 4, Resident Evil 5 e outros e registra o que vê. Ele busca similaridades e diferenças entre nossos mundos e fornece combustível para uma reflexão sobre nós mesmos. Ele é um pioneiro, um pioneiro de uma fronteira que se esmaece na medida em que mundos colidem e a hiper-realidade se constrói.
Seu trabalho é dividido em diferentes projetos. Clique nas imagens para ampliar. Atenção: Por questões logísticas, eu tomei a liberdade de reduzir as dimensões das imagens, mas você pode conferir as fotos originais nos links fornecidos.
the end of the virtual world aborda os limites “físicos” destas realidades fictícias, os pontos além da ação principal onde os desenvolvedores pararam de se preocupar com o cenário e o vazio está logo ali, presente, mas intransponível. São horizontes inatingíveis, cortes abruptos em estradas, prédios interrompidos. coreographed dance by gunfire é uma série de quatro fotos disparadas no momento de um tiroteio em The Wheelman. Overweg captura a resposta dos personagens na cena, cujos movimentos em reação ao tiro executado pelo jogador remetem a uma coreografia.
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source: cosasvisuales

A serie de fotos “The end of the virtual world”, de Robert Overweg, muestra un mundo plano y finito, con persectivas y escenas imposibles. // The photo series “The end of the virtual world”, by Robert Overweg, shows a flat and finite world, with impossible scenes and perspectives.
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source: photogeek

Сколько бы сил, времени, денег и эмоций не вкладывал в виртуальный мир человек, ему никогда не стать реальным. Эту светлую идею иллюстрирует в фотоработах серии “The end of the virtual world” художник Робет Овервег (Robert Overweg). С того момента, когда персональный компьютер вошёл практически в каждый дом, а интернет связь стала доступной наравне с сотовой, всё большее количество людей теряются в виртуальных мирах социальных сетей, компьютерных игр, занимаются Интеренет-серфингом или просто зарабатывают в сети. Часто, эта не настоящая, выдуманная жизнь превращается в некую модель той жизни, которую они должны житькаждый день в реальном мире: в ней люди путешествуют, общаются, влюбляются и женятся, строят дома, растят сады и детей, переживают сильные эмоции порой очень сильно меняющие их поведение и состояние в реальности, в общем пропадают без следа и следствия. Однако и у этого, казалось бы, безграничного пространства для деятельности, есть свои строго очерчённые рамки, свои границы, о существовании которых и напоминает Робет Овервег. Это напоминание должно встряхнуть многих из пользователей Интернета, ведь у большинства из них виртуальная жизнь куда более развита чем настоящая. Не стоит забывать, что проводя часы за монитором мы никогда не сможем возродить этот пусть и во многом интересный, но мёртвый мир у которого к тому же есть множество жёстких ограничений и запретов пресечь которые не дано никому. “The end of the virtual world” включает в себя изображения из популярнейших компьютерных игр: Left 4 dead 2, Half-life 2, Counter-Strike и Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. По содержанию их можно охарактеризовать как “концы мира”, жесткие границы, которые игрок не может переступить. Иногда это ленточка перегораживающая въезд в тоннель, а иногда просто конец внезапно обрывающейся реальности, то есть изображения. Как по мне, это прекрасное свидетельство несовершенства, вторичности выдуманного виртуального мира в сравнении с реальностью окружающей человека. А об этом многие забывают, что очень и очень грустно.