Born 1972, Tel Aviv, Israel
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA

Eddo Stern grew up in Tel Aviv in the 1970’s and played video games just like any other child. However, unlike most children, the violence he encountered in the fictional realm of games often mirrored the violence happening in the real world around him. Now as an artist with his MFA in Art and Integrated Media from the California Institute of the Arts, Stern draws upon his childhood experiences to address issues of fantasy, reality, politics, and cross-cultural perspectives through his computer games, films, and online media.



Best...Flame War...Ever... (King of Bards vs. Squire Rex, June 2004 recreates an online flame war between two testosterone-fuelled gamers regarding their respective degrees of expertise within EverQuest, a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). After following their feud on the message boards, Stern gave real voice to the players’ virtual personalities by meticulously creating animated masks for each, using the characters, graphics, and weapons of the game. Arguing rules, technicalities, and other specific points of contention that only a small segment of the population would understand, their unfolding narrative seems funny at first but gradually acquires an unexpected pathos, revealing shifting codes of masculinity.

caption:
Best…Flame War… Ever… (King of Bards vs. Squire Rex, June 2004), 2007
3D computer animation with sound
14 minutes, 37 seconds
Courtesy of the artist