State of Affairs (Supplementary Material II), 2018
C-type print on aluminium dibond, RFID credit card protector, security lanyard, matt black standoff advertising screw nails
23 x 21 x 3 cm
Part of a series of works accompanying Bob Bicknell-Knight’s film State of Affairs (2019), which compiles footage from the YouTube channel News Direct, in which daily news stories, from self-driving buses to social media bots, are transcribed into 3D rendered animations. Non-linear in presentation, the re-appropriated video work illustrates current and future modes of technological interface, from facial recognition software to drone surveillance. Executed in a dated Y2K aesthetic, the work is dystopic and utopic all at once. Akin to the unconscious rituals implemented while existing on the internet, opening tab after tab, clickbait after clickbait, State of Affairs mirrors the inconclusive narrative of our digital lives. The visual content is accompanied by a soothing, melodic soundtrack and augmented voiceover, forewarning of the future of gamified spaces and digital death.
The physical works combine footage taken from the film with various corporate ephemera.
State of Affairs (Supplementary Material II) has been included in the following exhibitions:
– New Materialities in the Digital Age, curated by Jonny Tanna. At Harlesden High Street, London, UK, 5th November – 4th December 2018.
BOB BICKNELL-KNIGHT 