BOB BICKNELL-KNIGHT

Swine (Standing), 2024
PLA, epoxy, glue, screws
100.9 x 110.4 x 33.5 cm

Swine (Standing) (2024) was part of Asset Flip, a solo exhibition by Bob Bicknell-Knight at SEAGER, London, UK, 30th May – 1st July 2024.

The exhibition investigated the tools used to create video games as a vehicle for speaking about hyper-capitalism and a general feeling of malaise towards the contemporary moment, with Asset Flip reflecting upon the impending climate crisis and 24/7 hypercapitalism through the lens of prefabricated assets used in video game development.

Within video games, an asset is any resource that is used in the development of a video game, from 3D models to sound effects and pieces of code. An asset flip is a type of shovel-ware (a term for low budget, poor quality video games, released purely for monetary gain) in which a video game developer purchases pre-made assets and uses them to create numerous permutations of generic games to sell at low prices. These games, albeit unpopular, are still regularly bought by unsuspecting buyers, and have been accused of flooding video game markets. Although asset flips are condemned by the industry, the use of pre-made assets, however, is becoming increasingly commonplace in video game development. In the exhibition at SEAGER pre-made assets, appropriated from asset stores, were explored through sculptures, paintings and films, commenting on our 24/7 working lives and the acceleration of global production processes.

Swine (Standing) was one of several floor and wall-based sculptures in the exhibition; physical reproductions of video game assets, 3D printed and sporadically presented within gridded structures. The assets are simple 3D models with low polygon counts, like animals and plant life, usually appearing in multiple places across different video games. The use of these models, purchased by game developers rather than being made themselves, appears to be a contemporary coping mechanism harnessed to accelerate the production process of virtual experiences. The works use the idea of the prefab as a vehicle for speaking about how the world is in an unstoppable free fall towards a global climate crisis.

The sculptures range from mouldy mushrooms, like CRASH (2024), to life-size visualisations of deceased animals, with ANNIHILATION (Grid) (2024) depicting a cat, exploring ideas related to the political climate in the UK and our rapidly decaying world. Each of the sculptures in the series is printed with no perimeter, with the different objects shedding their outer, simplistic armour, to explore the inner beauty and intricacies of these seemingly uncomplicated objects and the ways they’re used within video games.

The sculptures were produced using Polylactic Acid (PLA), a thermoplastic polyester made from plant starch. By producing versions or iterations of both animals and plants in this material, the sculptural works are effectively transformed back into the original natural elements that they are visually depicting. The sculptures are emblazoned with words associated with destruction and decay, asking the question, at what point do we escalate? Many of the sculptures are positioned within structures made from painted MDF, replicating the digital space that creators first encounter when beginning a project in Unity; a grey and white grid.

Swine (Standing) has been included in the following exhibitions:

– For Folk Sake, curated by Alexander Costello and Rebecca Riess. At The Cut Arts Centre, Halesworth, UK, 12th October – 19th November 2024.
– Asset Flip. At SEAGER, London, UK, 30th May – 1st July 2024.