Remember when Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch fell about a week into global quarantine and that was all everyone was playing as we navigated the scroll of fate and adjusting to virtual school and work? Well, now that we can mostly hang out again, a TikToker brings animal crossing IRL with the goal of traveling the world to chronicle the 43 works of art in fox-y art dealer Jolly Redd’s inventory.
London-based filmmaker and gamer Mayuren Naidoo (@mayplaystv) documented his global journey to 26 museums across 9 countries to visit all of the works featured in Animal Crossing: New Horizons in a TikTok series titled “animal crossing irl art.” Unlike the majority of forged works in Jolly Redd’s hoard, all were the real deal (as far as we know 👀). Of the 43 pieces in the game, Naidoo has seen 36 so far.
In the game, the artworks‘ titles, including but not limited to Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer (around 1665), “Sunflowers” by Vincent van Gogh (1888), and “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Katsushika Hokusai (1831), are kindly anonymized with polite adjectives like “Wistful Painting”, “Flowery Painting” and “Dynamic Painting”. These works of art can be purchased and donated to the in-game museum, but Jolly Redd’s sneaky dupes are not welcome. So players need to take a closer look at each piece of art for sale and cross-reference it with the real piece of art to make sure they don’t buy. something forged. Art imitates life, huh?
Naidoo has actually compiled a list of all the real names and locations of the artworks that its viewers can refer to if they wish to continue the same journey. Living in London, Naidoo was able to tick off seven of the 43 artworks quite easily thanks to visits to the National Gallery, Courtauld Gallery, Tate Britain and the British Museum, all of which are in London. Then he shuttled between France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands and finally the United States to see the remaining works. He only has seven works left.
Like everyone, Naidoo was surprised when he saw that The “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh (1889) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York was much smaller than he expected. On the other hand, he said Hyperallergic what to see Michelangelo’s iconic marble masterpiece David (1504) at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy, was his favorite due to its gargantuan size.
“Seeing him in real life was breathtaking,” he said.
Naidoo has yet to return to Paris to see “Apples and Oranges” by Paul Cézanne (1899) and go to Japan to see a Dogū Statue And “Rooster and Hen with Hydrangeas” by Itō Jakuchū (1759).
