Alma is a machinima made with the videogame Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018. It was recorded using the PlayStation 4 system and afterwards a recorded voice of the author was added. Is a story about what it means to be a persona in a virtual world and what imply to face the paradoxicality of death. Death and suicide aren’t definitive instances in videoludic worlds. Words as permadeath and permalife, as well as respawn and re-creation, aren’t enough to explain the intricate variability that characterize the avatar as an entity. During the process of recording I voluntarily “kill” my digital prothesis again and again, like one hundred of times. This wasn’t meant to be a sort of performance or a research drive by analytical scopes. It was necessary for me to join, in a certain sense, the avatar’s experience in his own world, in my own way. The protagonist of the game ceased – even for a brief moment – to be the videogame main character created by Rockstar Games, and become a companion in a more intimate way: departed from tasks, duties and obligations.
