Second Order Reality
“Second Order Reality emerged from the desire to give a physical, immaterial, or digital form to a sensation. Or, rather, to a series of minor, peripheral, incidental, and paradoxically unconscious sensations.”
Carola Bonfili set out to create a video game with a rich, layered narrative, weaving together diverse imaginaries, from Flaubert’s The Temptation of St. Anthony to H.G. Wells’ short stories, from brutalist architecture to generative artificial intelligence.
At the heart of Second Order Reality is the story of M’ling, a ten-year-old anthropomorphic monkey undergoing a mysterious and terrifying transformation as her body begins to turn to stone. Seeking guidance, she ventures into the forest, where she encounters a robotic being that shelters her within. By the end of this journey of self-discovery, which feels both deeply personal and universally resonant, she thus comes to realise that it is possible to coexist with one’s own demons.
The publication opens with a graphic novel which reinterprets the video game trailer The Stone Monkey, serving as a narrative gateway to the project’s universe. The subsequent sections explore the design and development phases of the work. Finally, a series of essays by Bonfili, curators Ilaria Gianni and Daniela Cotimbo, and contributors Domenico Quaranta and Valentina Tanni offer different perspectives to analyze Second Order Reality‘s narrative structure, conceptual foundations, and broader artistic and cultural implications, providing a multifaceted exploration of the work and its interplay between perception, fiction, and new media.
- 17 x 23 cm
- 104
- EN
- 2025
- 978-88-8056-290-0
