A gang of wayward artists escape the confines of one of gaming’s biggest online worlds.
The Grannies (2019) follows a group of Melbourne-based artists (Goldie Bartlett, Andrew Brophy, Ian MacLarty and Kalonica Quigley, and friends) known as The Grannies as they break 'out of bounds' in Rockstar Games’ hit action-adventure videogame Red Dead Redemption 2, travelling beyond the authored limits of the game's virtual world and into the increasingly broken and abstract space beyond. Rather than being driven by the desire to dominate or 'win', their adventures are driven by creative curiosity, presenting play as not just an end in itself, but as a form of artistic practice.
This multichannel video artwork, first presented at ACMI in the 2023 exhibition Out of Bounds: Exploring the Limits of Videogames, has been adapted into a digital-first, interactive format by director Marie Foulston (V&A, Somerset House, Wild Rumpus) and creative technologist V Buckenham (Cheap Bots Done Quick!, Wild Rumpus, Now Play This).
The Grannies offers a rare glimpse into the cracks of the apparent seamlessness of the digital world, through an artist's eyes.
Event duration
15 mins
Rating
Unclassified (All Ages)
Where
The story of The Grannies
How did a group of game developers – Andrew Brophy, Marigold Bartlett, Ian MacLarty, Kalonica Quigley and friends – travel beyond the borders of Red Dead Redemption 2, and what did they find in the eerie spaces between the game's textures and landscapes?
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Learn more about the work
About the artists
Marie Foulston
Marie Foulston is a leading curator and creative director of exhibitions, installations and experiences that specialise in videogames, play and digital culture. Previously she was Curator of Videogames at the V&A where she lead the curation of the headline exhibition Videogames, was guest director of experimental games festival ‘Now Play This’ at Somerset House and co-founded the UK alternative videogame collective the Wild Rumpus. Across her career she has worked alongside a host of international organisations and leading cultural institutions including the Smithsonian, the Game Developers Conference, London Film Festival, Penguin Random House, the Design Museum, Channel 4, ACMI, the Art Gallery of Ontario and MoPOP.
V Buckenham
V Buckenham is an artist, curator, game designer and creative technologist based in London, UK. They are currently making Downpour, a game-making tool.
The Grannies
The Grannies are a group of four Melbourne-based game developers who played Red Dead Redemption 2 Online together, including adventures out of bounds. They include Goldie Bartlett (Wayward Strand), Andrew Brophy (Knuckle Sandwich), Ian MacLarty (Mars First Logistics, Red Desert Render), Kalonica Quigley (Untitled Goose Game, Mars First Logistics), and friends.