Prefab_Fish_Perch_animated, 2023

Prefab_Fish_Perch_animated, 2023
3D printed PLA plastic, glue
17 x 6.7 x 50 cm

Prefab_Fish_Perch_animated (2023) is part of a series of sculptures that explore the tools used to produce video games, the game development software Unity and its asset store. The store enables users to buy and sell assets to use in their games. The most common assets sold are prefabs, game objects used in multiple places across a given game. Usually simple objects with low polygon counts, the use of prefabs makes the creation of games easier; a contemporary coping mechanism harnessed to accelerate the production process of virtual experiences.

An asset flip is a type of shovel-ware (a term for low budget, poor quality video games, released purely for monetary gain) in which a video game developer legally purchases pre- made assets and uses them to create numerous permutations of generic games and sell them at low prices. While not technically illegal, they tend to be viewed by gamers as uncreative and as diverting attention from less popular high-quality titles.

The sculptures in the series are physical reproductions of game objects from the asset store, 3D printed and presented in various ways. The sculptures range from mouldy mushrooms to life-size visualisations of deceased animals, exploring ideas related to the political climate in the UK and our rapidly decaying world.

Each of the sculptures in the series is printed with no perimeter, with the different objects shedding their outer, simplistic armour, to explore the inner beauty and intricacies of these seemingly uncomplicated objects and the ways they’re used within video games. These sculptures are produced using PLA (Polylactic Acid), a thermoplastic polyester made from plant starch such as corn, cassava, sugarcane or sugar beet pulp. By producing versions or iterations of both animals and plants in this material, the sculptural works are effectively transformed back into the original natural elements that they are visually depicting.

Prefab_Fish_Perch_animated has been included in the following exhibitions:

– Unconsumed, curated by Georgia Green and Eleanor Rodwell. At The Shoe Factory, Norwich, UK, 4th – 10th March 2023.