Oddball — NEWS — MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL

Carson Lynn’s earliest machinima, Oddball (2019), introduced the foundational themes and stylistic elements that echo throughout his subsequent works, including A bronze anvil falls to the earth., Reversal Ring, and Storm and Stress. In these projects, Lynn explores the complex interplay between digital spaces and queer identity, employing video games as medium, message, and messenger. A set of recurring themes – the representation of bodies, the exploration of virtual spaces as sites of friction and refuge, the use of mechanics as analogies for non binary experiences, glitching as queering – permeate his creations. In this final installment about Lynn’s machinima production, we’ll focus on his inaugural work, Oddball.

Oddball is a poignant meditation on virtual embodiment and queer resilience within the battlegrounds of Halo 2. Thanks to the modification Project Cartographer, Lynn captures the raw intensity of in-game interactions and the futuristic landscapes of Microsoft Studios’s popular first-person shooter. By weaving together footage from the game with real conversations appropriated from player exchanges on YouTube between 2006 and 2010, Lynn crafts a context that moves beyond hyper-masculine competition – the expected/prescribed gaming experience – exploring themes of vulnerability, violence, and the search for safe spaces within fictional domains.

As the artist explains in the artwork’s accompaying text, Oddball draws inspiration from Aevee Bee’s 2015 personal essay, “I love my untouchable virtual body,” which tackled the concept of invulnerability within Bloodborne as a coveted but unattainable shield against real-world pain and trauma. Unlike Bloodborne’s fleeting moments of invincibility, Halo 2’s gameplay mechanics, where characters are unavoidably subjected to damage, decline and degradation, serve as a metaphor for the exposure and assault of the queer self in spaces rife with homophobia and aggression…

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Matteo Bittanti

Works cited

Carson Lynn

A bronze anvil falls to the earth., digital video, color, sound, 6’ 35”, 2023

Reversal Ring, digital video, b&w, sound, 3’, 2022

Storm and Stress, digital video, color, sound, 3’ 45”, 2020

Oddball, digital video, color, 3’ 27”, 2019

Carson Lynn, Oddball, digital video, color, 3’ 27”, 2019

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Carson Lynn, *!CURSED!,* multimedia exhibition consisting of several digitally-constructed collages and a short machinima, 2022.

To fully appreciate the depth of Carson Lynn’s A bronze anvil falls to the earth., showcased in the Slot Machinima program at MMF MMXXIV, we now delve into his earlier works.

Originally featured within the context of the multimedia exhibition !CURSED! in 2022, Lynn’s Reversal Ring exemplifies the artist’s ongoing exploration of digital artistry through a queer lens, particularly focusing on the emblematic use of skeletons and skulls. This exhibition, comprising digitally-constructed collages and the aforementioned machinima Reversal Ring, utilizes a diverse array of source materials ranging from public domain illustrations to analog photographs of gamescapes, drawing from queer zine archives and employing memetic typography. This approach not only highlights Lynn’s innovative use of digital media but also underscores a thematic continuity with his previous works, such as the 2019 machinima Oddball (featured at the 2020 Milan Machinima Festival), which similarly employs game footage, skull imagery, and player interactions to create a narrative space that transcends traditional gaming aesthetics.

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Matteo Bittanti

Works cited

Carson Lynn, Reversal Ring, digital video, b&w, sound, 3”, 2022