Lo strano mondo è il nostro
‘Lo strano mondo è il nostro: Messages from Oddworld 2011–1994—Lorne Lanning's and Sherry McKenna's Oddysee’ was an exhibition of Oddworld art that was hosted at Lucca Comics & Games 2011 from to . The exhibition was curated by Debora Ferrari, Andrea Ferrari, and Luca Traini and included about 20 framed pieces of digital art from Oddworld Inhabitants, as well as original portraits of Lorne Lanning and Abe by Samuele Arcangioli, and looped playback of the video ‘Abe's Story’.
The subtitle for the exhibition was given as ‘Lorne Lanning e Sherry McKenna Oddyssee’ on the Neoludica blog,[1] but as ‘Lorne Lanning's and Sherry McKenna's Oddysee’ on the Lucca Comics & Games 2011 website.[2]
Venue
‘Lo strano mondo è il nostro’ was displayed in Ingellis Hall in the Lucca Center of Contemporary Art (Lu.C.C.A.) in Lucca, Italy, as part of Lucca Comics & Games 2011.[1] Entry was free every day between and The ambient music played in the room was composed by Andrea Tiberio (credited as ‘Tibe’) specifically for the event.[1]
At , the room was used for a talk by Emanuele Vietina (Vice-President of Lucca Comics & Games), Maurizio Vanni (Director of Lu.C.C.A.), Debora Ferrari, Luca Traini, Ambra Bonaiuto, and Salvo Mica.[1]
No representative of Oddworld Inhabitants attended the exhibition,[3] although Stewart Gilray wanted to send Wil Bunce-Edwards to visit it.[4]
Exhibits
The Neoludica blog described the exhibition as featuring about 20 pieces of Oddworld art,[1] fourteen of which were recorded by Oddworld Forums member Sgabbit, who attended the event and later uploaded footage and photos to YouTube.[5] The table below compares the works on display at the exhibition with the closest match available on Oddworld Library's image gallery.
| Photo | Match | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Film poster by Raymond Swanland for Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus—the Movie: Abe channeling lightning with looming portraits of the Glukkons Aslik, Dripik, Brewmaster, and Phleg. The version exhibited does not include the title or credits text. |
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Colour maps by Raymond Swanland (based on originals by Cathy Johnson) for Abe's 3D computer model for Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee. Oddworld Library's closest match is a thumbnail of page 42 from The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994–2004.[6] |
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Matte painting from the cutscene ‘This is RuptureFarms’ from Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee: RuptureFarms exterior establishing shot. |
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Concept art from Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath: Group of Grubbs by Silvio Aebischer. Oddworld Library has a larger version, although it is watermarked by GameSpot.[7] |
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Promotional image for Abe's Oddysee: Abe in a barrel of meat. |
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Composite CGI still from the cutscene ‘Vision’ from Abe's Exoddus: A blind Mudokon in Necrum Mines turns to reveal his stitched-up eyes to the camera. The version exhibited appears to be the same one as appears on pages 104–105 of The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants[8] and in Oddworld Library, which compared to stills from the ‘Vision’ cutscene has the foremost Mudokon turned at a different angle and additional blind Mudokons painted into the background. |
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CGI still from the cutscene ‘Brew’ from Abe's Exoddus: Abe looking disappointed while his Mudokon friends (offscreen) consume SoulStorm Brew and become sick. Oddworld Library's closest match is a small and cropped version of this still. |
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CGI still from the cutscene ‘Caught!’ from Munch's Oddysee: Munch alone on the surface of an expanse of water, turning excitedly upon hearing a Gabbit call (offscreen). The version exhibited appears to be the same one as appears on pages 166–167 of The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants[9], which compared to stills from the ‘Caught!’ cutscene is uncropped to show additional background water and sky, and repositioning Munch and the sunrise on the left of the image. Oddworld Library only has a still from the cutscene. |
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‘Twin foetus’ version of the Oddworld Inhabitants logo. The version exhibited may be adapted from the cover of The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants, as the image is portrait instead of square, but doesn't include any text other than the company name. Oddworld Library has the front cover, and the high resolution logo shown here only has a black background. |
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CGI still from the cutscene ‘This is RuptureFarms’ from Abe's Oddysee: Abe walking down a corridor lined with illuminated advertisements. |
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Promotional image for Munch's Oddysee: Abe, Munch, Mudokons and Fuzzles stood against a height chart, used in a spinning newspaper in the cutscene ‘Auction’.[10] |
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CGI still from the cutscene ‘Happy Ending’ from Abe's Exoddus: Exterior establishing matte painting of SoulStorm Brewery by Robert Brown, with CGI explosion.[11] Oddworld Library's closest match is a small screenshot of a different frame of this sequence. |
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Concept art: Song Engine by Raymond Swanland. |
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Realtime screenshot from Stranger's Wrath: Waterfall. Oddworld Library does not have a close match for this image. |
Two additional pieces were photographed at a larger exhibition of videogame art, ‘Art is a Game 2011–1966’, which was on display at Centro Culturale Candiani in Venice, Italy, from to , and at the temporary art space Sala Dei Laneri in Venice, Italy, from to .
| Match | Description |
|---|---|
Concept art from Abe's Exoddus: Junior Executive Glukkon by Farzad Varahramyan[12] This image is not available on Oddworld Library, but appears on page 182 of Oddworld: Abe's Origins.[13] | |
  
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Composite CGI still from the cutscene ‘Happy Ending’ from Abe's Exoddus: The overloading boilers of SoulStorm Brewery, superimposed with a promotional image of the Brewmaster and the SoulStorm Brew logo.[14] Oddworld Library has a small image of the CGI still, the image of the Brewmaster, and the SoulStorm Brew logo as part of a collection of logos, all as separate images. |
Also on display was the 7-minute video ‘Abe's Story’, which was played on loop in a small, darkened room.[3][5] This was described on the Neoludica blog as ‘un'opera inedita
’ (‘an unpublished work
’), although it had previously been published to the Oddworld Inhabitants YouTube channel in late .
The exhibition included original portraits of Lorne Lanning and Abe by Samuele Arcangioli, which were part of his ‘EMPATIA’ series, which also included portraits of Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright, and Alexey Pajitnov.
Credits
Promotional text for the event described the Oddworld Inhabitants team as including production designers Raymon Swanland [sic], Gautam Babbar, Steven Olds, Farzad Varahramyan, Silvio Aebischer and Robert Brown.[1][2] No mention is made of the artists involved in the CGI and realtime imagery featured in the exhibition.
The following credits were posted on the Neoludica blog.[1]
-
- ideazione e cura di
- Debora Ferrari
- Andrea Ferrari
- Luca Traini
-
- collaborazioni di
- Ambra Bonaiuto
- Salvatore Fallica
- Salvatore Mica
- Elena Di Raddo
- Alessandra Coppa
- Mauro Nicolini
- Massimo Giuntoli
-
- sound design
- Tibe (Andrea Tiberio)
-
- Traduzioni
- Laura Arduino
-
- Ritratto di Lorne/Abe
- Samuele Arcangioli
References
- ↑ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Neoludica (). ‘Neoludica a Lucca con Oddworld: LO STRANO MONDO E' IL NOSTRO’. Neoludica Game Art Gallery. Blogspot. Mountain View, California: Google Inc.
- ↑ Jump up to: a b Lucca Comics & Games (). ‘Oddworld’. Mostre. Games. Lucca Games and Comics 2011. Lucca Comics & Games srl.
- ↑ Jump up to: a b Sgabbit [sgabbit] (). Reply to Wil Bunce-Edwards [buncible] (). Message. #oddworld_discussions. Forums. Oddworld Forums. Discord. San Francisco, California: Discord Inc.
- ↑ Wil Bunce-Edwards [buncible] (). Reply to Sgabbit [sgabbit] (). Message. #oddworld_discussions. Forums. Oddworld Forums. Discord. San Francisco, California: Discord Inc.
- ↑ Jump up to: a b Sgabbit (). ‘Oddworld - Lucca Comics & Games 2011 Event (Video Footage)’. Sgabbit channel. YouTube. San Bruno, California: YouTube, LLC.
- ↑ Cathy Johnson & Daniel Wade (). ‘Chapter Two—Abe’, p. 42. The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994–2004. Mylor, Australia: Ballistic Publishing.
- ↑ GameSpot Staff (). Screens added on: 01/14/05. ‘Oddworld Stranger's Wrath Screens for Xbox at GameSpot’, p. 2, 3 or 4. ‘Oddworld Stranger's Wrath’. GameSpot. San Francisco, California: CNET Networks, Inc. Archived by Alexa Crawls (, , and ) respectively. Alexa Crawls EA and Alexa EC. Wayback Machine. San Francisco, California: Internet Archive.
- ↑ Cathy Johnson & Daniel Wade (). ‘Chapter Four—Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus’, pp. 104–105. The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994–2004. Mylor, Australia: Ballistic Publishing.
- ↑ Cathy Johnson & Daniel Wade (). ‘Chapter Five—Munch’, pp. 166–167. The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years 1994–2004. Mylor, Australia: Ballistic Publishing.
- ↑ Oddworld Inhabitants (). ‘Auction’. Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee. Microsoft Xbox. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Corporation.
- ↑ Rob Brown (c. ). Image. Concept art. RobertDBrown.com. Archived by Alexa Crawls (). Alexa Crawls EG. Wayback Machine. San Francisco, California: Internet Archive.
- ↑ Marianna Santoni (). Photo. ‘Biennale di Venezia - Vernissage al Centro Culturale Candiani’. Marianna Santoni Fotografia, Photoshop & Lightroom page. Facebook. Menlo Park, California: Meta Platforms Inc.
- ↑ Stace Harman & John Robertson (). ‘The Glukkons’, p. 182. ‘Industrialised Oddworld’. Oddworld: Abe's Origins. East Grinstead, United Kingdom: Independent By Design.
- ↑ Marianna Santoni (). Photo. ‘Biennale di Venezia - Vernissage al Centro Culturale Candiani’. Marianna Santoni Fotografia, Photoshop & Lightroom page. Facebook. Menlo Park, California: Meta Platforms Inc.