Multi-User Dungeon (MUD)
Petzel is pleased to present Multi-User Dungeon (MUD), a group exhibition opening Wednesday, February 21, 2024, curated by Simon Denny. The show will be on view through March 30, 2024, at Petzel’s Upper East Side location at 35 East 67th Street, Third Floor. Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) features works by etoy.corporation, Öyvind Fahlström, Genevieve Goffman, Jack Goldstein, Matthias Groebel, Peter Halley, Yngve Holen, Tishan Hsu, Josh Kline, Isabelle Frances McGuire, Seth Price, Harris Rosenblum, Avery Singer, Suzanne Treister, and Anicka Yi.
The exhibition takes its title from an historical genre of computer game, called Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs). Early online adventure games often based on genres like fantasy or science-fiction, technically speaking, MUDs were text-based software that accepted connections from many simultaneous users. Starting in the 1970s, MUDs were the predecessors of contemporary Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs or MMOs). The era of the MUD’s emergence and prominence can be seen as an in-between time, which bridged the emergence of the commercial internet, and earlier networked systems like Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and academic internets.
Genevieve Goffman
Bird's Nest
2022
Brass, nylon
15 x 9 x 6 inches
38.1 x 22.9 x 15.2 cm
(FP 23/048)
Isabelle Frances McGuire
Bust2{“Assassins Creed NPC”, “Normandy”, “New United States Flag”}
2023
Wax, resin, cotton, chain mail, leather, motion triggered sound device, wood
66 x 15 x 14 inches
167.6 x 38.1 x 35.6 cm
(FP 23/047)
Suzanne Treister
Fictional Videogame Stills/Four Exits
1991-92/2020
Archival giclée print on semigloss photo paper
16 x 20 inches
40.6 x 50.8 cm
Edition 1 of 15
(FP 23/051)
Matthias Groebel
Untitled (149)
1997
Acrylic on canvas
37.4 x 37.4 inchse
95 x 95 cm
(FP 24/004)
Peter Halley
Yellow Cell with Underground Conduit
1982
Acrylic, fluorescent acrylic, phosphorescent acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas
56 x 42 inches
142.2 x 106.7 cm
(FP 24/010)
Yngve Holen
Experience After Birth
2021
Bronze and aluminum
18.1 x 20.9 x 18.1
46 x 53 x 46 cm
(YH 24/001)
Harris Rosenblum
Censer (Mechanical Squonk Mod)
2023
Vulcanized prosthetic latex, hand wound nichrome wire 0.8 Om inductors (alienweave 3 wire pattern), Cotton Bacon brand organic carded cotton, WASP squonk convertible mech atomizer, brass, custom squonk mod adapter, CNC engraved copper plate, 9v batteries, wire, acrylic, paint, motherboard standoffs mechanical switch, hardware
14 x 14 x 8 inches
35.6 x 35.6 x 20.3 cm
(FP 24/005)
Tishan Hsu
Gray-Zone 8
2023
Mixed media on Dura-Lar film, powder coated steel, and acrylic sheet artist frame
27 x 22.75 inches
68.6 x 57.8 cm
(FP 24/020)
Yngve Holen
5G AirScale Black
2023
Antenna, resin, flock, metal
26 x 15.4 x 5.1 inches
66 x 39 x 13 cm
(YH 24/002)
Today, as social media giants compete with startups to expand and standardize digital worlds, we find ourselves in another moment of transition, with these worlds exponentially increasing in importance and usage. The history of the MUD remains central as newer virtual worlds are designed and deployed. Hardware and software transformations–through types of screens, glasses, network structures and beyond, from online marketplaces to metaverses–affect the visual and the visceral.
etoy.CORPORATION
SHARE-CERTIFICATE No. 162
1999/2000
C-print mounted on aluminum
23.6 x 23.6 inches
60 x 60 cm
(FP 24/007)
MUD brings together artworks from many eras that can be seen to navigate the uncanny skeuomorphism of virtual worlds as they evolve over time and spill over into politics, finance and culture. They process and reflect worlds in between the analogue and the digital using “traditional” media like painting and sculpture as they meet new making tools that stem from screens, digital print and 3D print technology.
Matthias Groebel
Untitled (156)
1995
Acrylic on canvas
37.4 x 37.4 inches
95 x 95 cm
(FP 23/046)
Jack Goldstein
Untitled (Selectric Totems) (I)
1988-1990
Typed text on paper (10 pages, 1 displayed)
17 x 11 inches
43.2 x 27.9 cm
(FP 24/003)
Harris Rosenblum
Earth and New Earth Miku
2021
PLA, Walnut, MDF, Cosmetic Mica, Steel, PVA glue, Cyanoacrylate glue, Raw clay harvested from Wendy’s Parking lot during rebuild, acrylic, 4-40 stainless steel set screws, polyurethane varnish
12 x 19 x 4 inches
30.5 x 48.3 x 10.2 cm
(FP 24/006)
Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) is organized in conversation with Dungeon, a solo exhibition of new works by Simon Denny, presented simultaneously at Petzel’s Upper East Side location at 35 East 67th Street, Parlor Floor.
Öyvind Fahlström
Skogsspår [Trail of Prints in the Woods]
1962
Waterpaint and India ink on paper
11.5 x 8.1 inches
29.2 x 20.7 cm
(FP 24/009)
Suzanne Treister
Fictional Videogame Stills/Virtual Wilderness
1991-92/2020
Archival giclée print on semigloss photo paper
16 x 20 inches
40.6 x 50.8 cm
Edition 1 of 15
(FP 24/002)
![Öyvind Fahlström
Skogsspår [Trail of Prints in the Woods]
1962
Waterpaint and India ink on paper
11.5 x 8.1 inches
29.2 x 20.7 cm
(FP 24/009)](https://img.artlogic.net/w_1800,h_1000,c_limit/exhibit-e-stg/63692af4d0d707561d062132/e71b2eedaac2101674e4552f63d601a7.jpeg)
![Öyvind Fahlström
Skogsspår [Trail of Prints in the Woods]
1962
Waterpaint and India ink on paper
11.5 x 8.1 inches
29.2 x 20.7 cm
(FP 24/009)](https://img.artlogic.net/w_647,h_647,c_limit/exhibit-e-stg/63692af4d0d707561d062132/e71b2eedaac2101674e4552f63d601a7.jpeg)
