GRAND THEFT VITO

Authors: COLL.EO

Release date:  January 16, 2014

Features: Softcover, 234 pages, 685 illustrations, full color.

Format: 7 x 7 inches = 18 x 18 cm 

Language: English

ISBN: 978-0-9911091-1-1

Price: $99

LIMITED EDITION: 100 copies

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DESCRIPTION

Between July 3 and 25 of 2013, San Francisco-based artists COLL.EO walked through the streets of Liberty City, the fictional metropolis of Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games, 2008) under the guise of Vito Acconci. Titled Following Bit, the performance was meant as a replay of Acconci’s seminal Following Piece (1969). Forty-four years earlier, Acconci followed for an entire month a random person each day in New York, stopping only if they entered a private space. Acconci typed up an account of each "pursuit", and sent a report to a different member of the art community the subsequent month.

COLL.EO’s 2013 replay generated an enormous set of data, consisting of 23 digital videos in high definition over 118 gigabyte in size; 13300+ digital photos; 60 digital prints; 23 written accounts sent in tweet form, plus several typewritten pages of notes, framed and mounted to a board.

A Game Art walkthrough, this book provides a unique, in-depth documentation of Following Bit and the related art mod Grand Theft Vito (2013) through texts, screengrabs, annotations, and a long conversation between COLL.EO and San Francisco-based artist Carlo Ricafort.

We are releasing 100 copies.

SHORT BIOGRAPHIES

COLL.EO: A collaboration between Colleen Flaherty and Matteo Bittanti, COLL.EO makes artworks, performances, and interventions that lie at the intersection of new media, toy culture, and conceptual art. COLL.EO’s studio is located in San Francisco.

CARLO RICAFORT: Born in Quezon City, Philippines, Carlo Ricafort is a visual artist. His work has been exhibited in the Bay Area, New York, Los Angeles, Manila, Philippines, San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, Bangkok, Thailand, and Sete, France. Ricafort lives and works in San Francisco.

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