BOB BICKNELL-KNIGHT

EXTINCTION (Grid), 2024
3D printed PLA, extruded aluminium, aluminium sheets, vinyl prints, screws
18 x 30.5 x 25.5 cm

EXTINCTION (Grid) (2024) was part of Logging Off, a duo exhibition by Bob Bicknell-Knight and Rosa-Maria Nuutinen at The Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk, UK, 27th February – 6th April 2024.

The exhibition explored the seductive nature of video games worlds, digital addiction, climate collapse, apocalypse anxieties and 24/7 hypercapitalism. The exhibition reflects upon how the video games we play are created, how our lives are becoming increasingly disconnected because of new technologies and a general feeling of malaise towards the contemporary moment.

EXTINCTION (Grid) 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. 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. The assets used in the exhibition 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 to life-size visualisations of deceased animals 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 sit on structures made from aluminium, referencing autopsy and dissecting tables, covered by vinyl prints which replicate the digital space that creators first encounter when beginning a project in Unity; a grey and white grid.

EXTINCTION (Grid) has been included in the following exhibitions:

– Logging Off w/ Rosa-Maria Nuutinen. At The Cut Arts Centre, Halesworth, UK, 27th February – 6th April 2024.