So,
I think it’s been about a month since I last posted, due to the fact that I was
on holiday for a little while, enjoying the sun. Apart from going to France and
reading a few books, I’ve mostly been enjoying the countryside, soaking up
everything that it has to offer before I go back to London in less than a
week’s time. How exhilarating.
I
don’t think I’ve done any actual work for myself during this time, apart from
submitting to more open calls; attempting to increase the size of my CV. I have
however been thinking about some of the things that I want to create in the
coming months. After reading a few things I’ve decided to make a piece of work
involving The Sims, discussing life and the overwhelming virtual presence in
our first world lives. The Sims is heralded as an accurate life simulator, a
game that allows the player to be intricately entangled within the lives of the
characters that they’re controlling. I want the work to be about this somehow,
I’m not entirely sure what it will manifest itself as, but for now I’ve been
playing The Sims, re-learning the game that I was obsessed with when I was young.
Another
hazy idea for a piece is centred around aux cables, cables that are plugged into
various screens, which are playing videos, videos that I am yet to make. The
aux cables on the other end however will not be plugged into headphones, they
will simply be holes, waiting for the viewer to plug their own pair of
headphones into the socket; continuing on my interest in relational art. The
connecting of everyone watching these different screens and listening to them
through these wires could become a metaphor for the ‘web’ of the internet.
Although I’m very early in my thoughts of what I might show on the screens. The
use of one’s own headphones also implies a certain homeliness to the thing,
somehow making the viewer more comfortable, a similar effect is created when
you get a viewer to sit on a bean bag in order to watch a film for example.
This is interesting, and may inspire the work. I’m not completely sure, but I
guess I’ll find out the more I actively pursue this idea. For the moment I just
have a picture in my head of lots of black aux cables snaking around a room;
exciting.
I’ve
also been trying to learn Blender, a 3D animation software, to no real avail,
although I need to put more time and effort into the process. I specifically
want to make an animated video work focusing on telepresence devices, a device
that is usually comprised of an iPad on a stick with wheels on, allowing the
user to be at work, manoeuvring around the office, whilst simultaneously
sitting at home controlling this very basic robot from their own iPad. In this
video I hope to make a choir of these devices, singing a song about the human
race, or the wonders of being a human, etc. I assume this will be fairly simple
once I learn how to make some basic models.
Another
simple idea is to take landscape shots from video games, most notably ones from
games with large forests or hills, and print the images onto ‘tacky’ canvas, to
be displayed on the wall, mimicking the ‘basic’ paintings that you find in
hotels throughout the world. This may or may not become a thing, if it does the
‘in-situ’ shot would have to be a hotel room.
Oh
and I’ve also updated my website a little, with a new, ‘fresh’ layout, one
that’s a little more suited to my work, rather than the one I had last year.
You can check it out, as always, right here: www.bobbicknell-knight.com
I have heard back from a few things, which is
always great. A small electronic net label called Frame of Reference is going
to be releasing a compilation album later this month, with my sound work Utopian
Realism being included. This is kind of exciting, even though it’s a small
thing. http://frameofreference.xyz/
Some
videos of mine are also going to be a part of a music event in Leeds being put
on by 8MANA. It’ll be comprised of three rooms, two for music and one for
sitting around, staring at various projections of visually enticing art. It’s
on the 21st of September, so if you’re in Leeds go check it out: www.facebook.com/events/170699340026144/173543513075060/?notif_t=admin_plan_mall_activity¬if_id=1472141819978062
Also
soon is the ‘CHROMA Pop Up Art Shop’, which will be selling a few of my more
tangible works this Saturday and Sunday (17th-18th). My
set of 12 caps, A Jobless Jury, will
be on sale, alongside some USB drives holding other people’s data from the
piece of work Dismantled Data. If
you’re in London on the 17th you should come for the launch, I will
be there IRL. www.facebook.com/events/1206222416064822/
I
also got into ‘Video Social Club #2: Post-Everything’, an event which will be a
part of the Plymouth Art Weekender. Two of my videos are being featured Utopian Realism and Who Needs Teachers When You've Got A Computer-Aided Education? This
is in October.
Another
thing that’s happening in October that I got into is MozEx, a festival about
computers and the internet. As part of the festival, various exhibition spaces
are being created to show artwork that uses different computer technologies.
The video of mine, Utopian Realism,
is going to be featured. https://mozillafestival.org/
The
final thing that I’ve gotten into is Web Biennial 2017, an internet biennial,
which is interesting within itself. The galleries are online, with different
curators for each individual gallery space. This year there’s going to be four
galleries separated by different media; photography, gifs, videos and website
links. Two of my works are going to be featured, the website All My Messages and my long form video
work Retrospective Obsolescence.
Although this won’t happen for a few months, I’m still very excited about it
happening, and I’ll be sure to link everything here when the websites start to
become live. www.webbiennial.org/
The
website for the TRAVELOGUE exhibition in Italy was created a while ago, and you
can see my ‘artist profile’ on the site here: http://travelogue.space/artists/#/bob-bicknell-knight/ I think the show is officially finished now, which
is exciting, thinking about the different people that may have seen and enjoyed
my work. I’m looking forward to seeing the photographs of all the different
works in situ. Oh and I’ve been sent a series of questions to answer for a text
based interview, which should be a fun thing. It’s a real shame that I couldn’t
make it to the exhibition, even though I’d have loved to, as all the other
works in the show sounded really interesting.
What
else has happened this month? Lots of reading and sitting in the sun, which is
always fun. I managed to read a nice mixture of fiction and non-fiction books,
although it slowly dawned on me that reading about Foucault when your brain is
slowly melting from the 35°C heat
isn’t the best way to actually attempt to understand something that complex.
For
the books, I began by reading Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson. A novel that envisions how the internet (or Metaverse, a term coined by Stephenson) would
inevitably function and slowly consume everything in its wake. Lots of
interesting ideas about advertising, and the lack of laws or space in cities. A
lot of ideas about science and religion are packed in too, with many references
to the Tower of Babel among other religious phenomena. It was an interesting
and evocative read, exploring a world in the future not unlike our own, although
a lot of sci-fi/cyberpunk does this anyway.
I
also read Neuromancer by William
Gibson, ticking off another seminal science-fiction/cyberpunk book from my
list. It felt very disjointed, although this may have been solely to do with
the fact that when new scenes occurred in a given chapter, there was no
paragraph break, you simply kept reading and found yourself in a new
conversation, completely different from the one that was just going on.
Although I’m interested in the idea of non-linear writing, in this case it was
just annoying. Apart from that it was an interesting book, a mixture of ‘old
hat’ ideas with some small glimpses of the future. It was good, just not as
amazing as I wanted it to be, knowing how much it influenced the cyberpunk
genre.
Continuing
down the sci-fi route, I revisited one of my favourite authors, Philip K. Dick,
and read Ubik. A book that was ahead
of its time, and still incredibly interesting to read; an envisioned world
where you pay your door to open, and if not it threatens to sue you. Although a
lot of Dick’s books take old world technologies into the imaginations of the
future, the incredible amount of thought and detail that’s gone into
visualising these new worlds overrides anything that he might have gotten wrong
about what’s to come back in the late 60s. The book itself was great and
satisfying to read, clever and to the point.
The
last vaguely sci-fi book on my list was Satin
Island by Tom McCarthy. A weird book, an interesting book, a seemingly
meandering but incredibly precise book, detailing the exploits of an ethnographer.
A book built on research about people who ‘do’ research for a living. It was a
nice little reflection on what’s happening right now in the world, in a very
mathematically concise way.
Other
than the sci-fi I read a few ‘academically focused’ books. The first was a
really inviting book called How Games
Move Us: Emotion by Design by Katherine Isbister. It was a very
interesting, evocative book that gave me a bunch of examples where video games
are specifically created to conjure various emotions, etc. in a vaguely
art-centred context. I didn’t learn anything major, but it did strengthen a lot
of the ideas that I already have about games as art, and how important games
are in society.
Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative? by Mark Fischer was really good, especially at
easing you into some of the more complex ideas embedded within it, usually
beginning a chapter by talking about various films and how they relate to the
given topic. Well worth a read if you want a quick injection of capitalism.
The
last book I read whilst I was on holiday was Foucault: A Very Short Introduction by Gary Gutting. It gave a very
concise account of the ideas looked at in his books, as well as his life in
general. Pretty much what I wanted from the experience.
It
was lovely to just sit around for a little while, with no real cares about
anything, apart from updating isthisit?
still on a weekly basis. Being able to swim every day is also a beautiful
thing, how great would it be to have a pool…
In
other news I created an Instagram for isthisit?
which will serve as a space to inform people of the website, as well as posting
pictures of exhibitions that I’ve personally been to and been inspired by from
a curatorial position. I’ve always wanted to do this on my own personal
account, but I kind of like just having my own work on there, rather than
anything else. The username is is_this_it_is_this_it and you can follow the
link here to the account: www.instagram.com/is_this_it_is_this_it/
I
also finally bought a proper domain name for the site, so it no longer has ads
or a ‘.wix’ address. This makes the site a lot more professional, and will
hopefully get more interesting people to submit work, etc. I am really enjoying
the process of curating as the weeks continue forwards, as well as making links
with the various artists that I choose to feature. I definitely want to put on
a physical show in the future, a properly curated one with an overarching
theme, etc. I think that’s a lot more satisfying, seeing an actual relationship
between the works and being ‘taken on a journey’.
For
#17 there were three different works from three different artists, each
considering the idea of the simulation in their own unique way. This began with
Thomas Tyler’s video work ’Liquid
Perfection’, contemplating notions of millennial narcissism, which was
aptly linked to video games, particularly those with single player narratives
from the late 90s/early 2000s, where the simulated worlds revolved around you
as the player, disconnected from the internet and your peers. In these virtual
worlds you as the player are constantly the centre of attention, a fact Tyler
uses within the film to question whether or not the video games that
millennials connected with when they were young has had an impact on their
later life solipsism. Helena Kate Whittingham’s ‘Cabin Fever’ accompanied Tyler’s work, featuring the artist dancing
to Fever by Madonna, donning a purple wig whilst staring back into the webcam,
seemingly obsessed with her own performance. The audio on YouTube is muted for
copyright reasons, playing into ideas of ownership and consent which is
prevalent in both video works. Jake Mullins’ 'White and Blue Pot' completes the
simulation, with a painting imitating the 'perfect home' which is always
present in Home Style magazines, containing various plants sitting on a clear
surface. You can see the exhibition here: www.isthisitisthisit.com/17
#18
was focused around Bex Ilsley’s endlessly repeating video piece titled ‘Twist
the Head, There's Another Below’, composed of purple, totem-esque figures with
bob haircuts, reminiscent of a Sphinx’s, reaching up to a considerably larger
alien/god like creature that seems to be birthing the Sphinx like beings, which
appear to be the inner, fragile being within all of us that has control over
ones’ emotions and actions. Leading on from that was Henry Badrick’s fragmented
video work ‘this is clay, this is chaos, this is collected’, a piece that
utilises various objects from different institutions’ collections in order to
craft a dialogue with a piece of text by William James concerning the different
selves that are present within us all. To tie everything together, there is
Peter Barnard’s distorted soundscape called ‘Variations on Silence’ which is
made up of corrupted audio files which originally contained 4 minutes and 33
seconds of silence. To me, Barnard becomes a digital archaeologist, endlessly
digging into audio files in the hope that some relic from previous ‘broken’
sound pieces could be discovered and used. The god-like imagery and obsession
with one’s own identity in Ilsley’s work coupled with the analysis of inner
selves by Badrick accompanied by the use of ‘stolen’ objects from collections
and the cultivation of broken audio files by Barnard, brings the various pieces
together to form a coherent exhibit. You can see the exhibition here: www.isthisitisthisit.com/18
Exhibition
#19 had a medical focused theme, bringing together Joseph Cotgrave’s film 'Elite
Controller 1.5', which considers the stigmas surrounding HIV being circulated
through ‘meaningless hook-ups’ encouraged by gay dating apps, and Kate Frances
Lingard’s series of films titled ‘DOSAGE ONE-FOUR’ that responds to
hallucinations suffered by patients in Intensive Care Units when put under
prolonged medical sedation. In these ICU’s, due to the amount of time that the
human brain is effectively ‘shut off’, patients are known to suffer from PTSD
and depression after their treatment; with the doctors focusing on “saving the
physical but not considering the mental”. This links into the emphasis of
Cotgrave’s piece; educating young people about the potential risks of HIV and
safe sex, thinking with your mind rather than your body. The soundscape created
by all four of Lingard’s videos provides a rather evocative accompaniment to
Elite Controller, with snatches of speech reinterpreted in the context of the
male body parts serving to sexualise both works, in a slightly problematic way.
You can see the exhibition here: www.isthisitisthisit.com/19
For
this week’s exhibition, #20, three works were featured, with the very basic
underlying theme of summer, or more specifically the negative connotations of the
beach. This began with James Choucino’s endless soundscape ‘Beach Holiday’
which explores the word ‘beached’ and the different meanings it can convey. The
more you listen to the robotic voice saying ‘beached’ over and over again, the more
I’m reminded of Jon Rafman’s video work ‘Oh the Humanity’, blobs of figures
being crushed together in a wave pool. When listening to Choucino’s work, rather than beached wales, I think of
beached humans, slowly melting into the sand on a distant beach somewhere.
Leading on from this was Campbell Mcconnell’s video work ‘Deck Chair’,
featuring a man repeatedly attempting to sit in a chair. The repetition and tediousness
of both of these works is so evocative of the various activities that middle
class people take part in whilst at the beach; most commonly sitting in the
sun, on a chair, attempting to tan, fully aware of the fact that the tan will
be gone in a few months’ time. The final work ties
this whole, pointless experience together; a pastel drawing by Galina Munroe
simply titled ‘MR CRAB’. You can see the exhibition here: www.isthisitisthisit.com/20
I
really like the idea of putting on an exhibition over Instagram, or any social
media website, an idea that’s been done many times before, but one that I may
want to look into, as it seems like a very simple and easy way to showcase
work, work specifically catered to the app, whatever that is... Something to
think about at some point in the future…
Apart
from all that, I’ve watched many films and tv shows, which I’m now going to
attempt to recount. How exciting…
Mistress America
was a lovely film, centralised around a young woman going to New York for
university. The plot was enjoyable, the acting was believable and there were
some genuinely ‘nice’ moments towards the end. An all-round lovely film.
I
finally got to watch Jason Bourne,
something that I’ve been looking forward to doing since it was announced that
Matt Damon would be coming back for the fourth movie of the franchise (we don’t
talk about The Bourne Legacy).
Obviously it was good, but not amazing, some of the action sequences felt a
little like huge Fast and Furious-esque
set pieces, whereas what I love about the Bourne
films in general is how clever they are, how precise and thought out those
action moments are. Also, for anyone who’s ever watched a Bourne film, they know that Moby’s Extreme Ways is going to kick in at the end. Unfortunately,
somebody decided to use a new version of the song in this film, which slightly
ruined the ‘goose bump’ feeling that I always get when that song comes on at
the end of these films. A tiny thing, but one that made the ending a little
disappointing. It was good, but not as great as I wanted it to be. Now we wait
for number 5.
Florence Foster Jenkins was beautifully sad, considering the later life of
a woman who had always dreamed of becoming an opera singer, and had enough
money to do just that. Although the one hindrance is that she is terrible at
singing, but has never been informed of that fact. Meryl Streep was great as
usual, and it’s always nice to see Hugh Grant doing his thing.
I
watched a few Woody Allen films, beginning with his most recent, Café Society. A young man goes to
Hollywood and gets into various love triangles. It had some beautiful sets, and
vaguely acceptable scenes, but it didn’t really give me anything to grasp on
to, and left the story very unresolved, which is probably part of the whole
thing. Even so, not his best work by far; there’s still the long conversations
picking apart some tiny piece of information, or someone jabbering away akin to
Allen himself, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Although, the more I see Steve
Carell in serious films, the more I want to see him in serious films. So that’s
one of the many silver linings of this film.
I
watched Whatever Works primarily
because of Larry David, who I was missing since finishing Curb Your Enthusiasm many months ago now. It was a fair film, with
the standout being the fourth wall breaks. I do love it when media does this,
especially in a clever way, as opposed to how Deadpool initiates it. Whenever
Larry talks to the camera, everyone around him questions why he’s talking and
looking at us, the audience, as if there is no camera there, and its real life.
It’s very clever, as this happens at the beginning and the end of the film,
bookmarking the events that occur within, with Larry acknowledging the fact
that it was all an act, rendering everything that you’ve just witnessed
obsolete, which it, of course is. Sometimes Woody Allen can be very clever, and
I feel that this was one of those times.
Now You See Me 2
was even worse than the first film, if that were even possible, which I didn’t
think it was. You may as well re-watch The
Prestige; the height of films about magic.
Gladiator
on the other hand, was a great film. Russel Crowe being great, and Joaquin
Phoenix being a bastard; what more do you want?
For
some reason, I’ve been watching the occasional episode of Scrubs recently, so I decided to dip into Zach Braff’s directorial
side and watched Garden State. It was
a bit sad really, as I found it kind of dull. Poor acting from Braff,
portraying an unoriginal character. It just felt like a lot of self-detrimental
bullshit from Braff, which is fine, but is it really?
For
some reason I then decided to watch his other film, Wish I Was Here. Yet again, a mistake. Another hour and a half of
watching a white man struggling through life, whining about not being able to
send his kids to private school whilst driving a shiny car. Am I interested?
Probably not.
Blood Father
was terrible; I don’t really know why I clicked on it. I want Mel to be better
than he always is nowadays. Be better Mel. Please.
Now,
I Am Not a Serial Killer, this was
kind of interesting. Centred around a teenager who’s a diagnosed psychopath,
who discovers there’s an alien killing people in his small town. As he’s
fascinated by the idea of death and killing, instead of reporting this to the
police he watches this figure, questioning what he’s doing and why he does it.
This allows himself to reflect on his own homicidal thoughts, which makes for
an interesting filmic relationship to blossom. An intriguing indie film.
Free State of Jones was fine, McConaughey doing his thing. It felt
like a rehash of a lot of films before it, which is completely allowed, and it
was a good film, just not amazing. Whenever McConaughey is in anything at this
point I want it to be amazing, and I guess that’s my own fault.
The Green Mile
was a solid film, a little ‘wishy-washy’, but what do you expect from the
director of The Shawshank Redemption.
Although saying that, he did also direct The
Mist, which is pretty much the exact opposite of ‘wishy-washy’. It was very
distressing at times, if a little overly long. However, Tom Hanks can do no
wrong.
12 Angry Men
is a film I should have watched years ago. A very good film about persuasion
and (arguably) how wrong the idea of a ‘jury of your peers’ is. Really clever
and very impressive, that’s all I have to add to this near 60-year-old film.
I
really liked White Men Can’t Jump,
for the pace of the story and the likeable characters. I’ve seen very little of
Wesley Snipes in films, but I haven’t really ventured into the Blade franchise. Maybe I should. There
were some very good moments, alongside making me actually invested in the sport
of basketball, which is a feat within itself.
I
also finally got around to watching Schindler’s
List. I think the fact that it’s 3 hours long and about World War II has
stopped me from watching until now, but I’m very glad I finally did. It was an
amazing film, with the black and white making it so much more ‘real’. When
people are shot, it just feels real, which makes it even more distressing that
it already is. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are both brilliant in it, and
actually makes me annoyed about the majority of Neeson’s filmography,
especially when you compare both of their different career paths.
It’s a Wonderful Life was lovely, James Stewart is great in everything,
and that’s always a given.
Paths of Glory
was depressing and just made me annoyed, which is obviously the feeling that
Kubrick wanted to evoke.
Yet
again, I finally got around to watching Citizen
Kane, which was, yet again, great. Although I probably built it up in my
mind a little too much, the overarching story was still good, alongside the set
design and general scenes throughout.
North by Northwest was another good one, I think everyone knows you
can never go wrong with Hitchcock.
The Apartment
was a distressing premise, and even more distressing in practice; a man lets
various bosses in his company bring women back to his apartment for affairs, in
order to be promoted. Kind of fucked up. What follows is a very good, very
interesting film.
Mary and Max
was very sad, especially as Philip Seymour Hoffman was voicing one of the lead
roles. If you’re a fan of animation, especially stop motion, you should
definitely watch this.
I
can’t believe I haven’t seen The Princess
Bride before, not only because that’s where the idea of the ‘Dread Pirate
Roberts’ comes from, but because of how funny and great the whole thing was. A
really sweet and very lovely film; a must watch.
Grave of the Fireflies was incredibly sad and simply devastating to
watch. A very good film that everyone should watch, centred around a boy and
his sister, attempting to survive in Japan during World War II.
Another
Studio Ghibli film, When Marnie Was There,
was very beautiful and sweet. Another must watch, like pretty much all of
Studio Ghibli’s vast filmography.
The Cabin in the Woods surprised me by how knowing it was. Using classic
horror tropes to its advantage, I was impressed, alongside one very real-to-life
scene that genuinely made me laugh for about 5 minutes, which very rarely
happens. A solid fantasy/horror film.
Office Space
was great, short and funny. You can’t really ask for anything else from a
comedy film. I also now know where a bunch of memes come from, which is always
a good thing.
Another
Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train. Yet
again, another good film. Very creepy and very good.
Warrior
was yet another good experience, and yet another film that got me interested in
the sport that it was centred around. Superb acting, great camera work, all
good things.
Robert
De Niro in Casino was amazing, as was
the film itself. Joe Pesci, as always, was as scary and as unpredictable as
ever. Whenever he’s in a room in the majority of his films, you’re always
worrying about what he’ll do next. Well worth a watch if you haven’t already.
Daniel
Radcliffe in Imperium was the only
vaguely good thing from the film. The plot was very weak and predictable, with nothing
being fully resolved, which is never fun. It passed the time, but that’s also
never a good thing to be thinking, or writing.
After
loving Drive and hating Only God Forgives, I was a little
worried about Nicolas Winding Refn’s most recent film, The Neon Demon. It turned out to be a mixture of the two films,
with huge chunks of ‘wanky’ visuals set against a genuinely creepy atmosphere
and aesthetic. I also nearly threw up at one point, which is to be applauded, I
guess? Great acting by Elle Fanning obviously, but the film in general was a
little disappointing, alongside being about half an hour too long. I can’t wait
for his next one.
Human Traffic,
why have I not seen this before? Incredibly clever and a very weird DIY
aesthetic that I definitely appreciated, fitting right into how late 90s/early
2000s the whole experience is. A must watch.
Election
was surprisingly good. A layered plot alongside Reece Witherspoon and Matthew
Broderick. You can’t really go wrong.
I
finally watched the final film in the Roy Anderson trilogy, You, The Living. All I can say is, each
film is simply incredible, and a must watch for anyone who thinks about, or
makes films.
The Overnight
was a weird film; two couples slowly bond over an evening of weirdness. That’s
pretty much the whole plot, containing down to earth writing and some vaguely interesting
acting. A weird film, but one you shouldn’t totally disregard.
The Sting
was great. Very clever, with some solid twists. It’s The Sting, probably everyone but me has seen it by now. It was
good.
My
final film was Modern Times, which is
my first Charlie Chaplin film, very much a ‘travesty’. It was very interesting,
lots of evocative imagery alongside being genuinely funny. I really enjoyed it,
and definitely will be watching more from his filmography in the coming weeks.
I
also watched a bunch of tv shows, the first being Broad City. A slightly toned down version of Girls, and a lot better for it. Relatable situations with realistic
and genuine conversations. That’s all you really want from a comedy about two
women living in New York City.
Sit Down Shut Up
was a nice little cartoon about the lives of teachers who all work together in
a high school. At times it was interesting, and Will Arnett is always a great
voice to hear in an animation.
Jane the Virgin
was a little weird, a little unbelievable alongside the over the top comedy
storyline and subplots. It was okay, but there was never really any urge to
watch the next episode. On reflection, I probably wasted a lot of my time. It
was okay.
I
began to watch Heroes, which is fair.
It hasn’t aged very well, which is a bit of a shame, making me regret not
having watched it earlier. However, it is interesting, and I’m still watching
it, so I guess I’ll just see what happens once I’ve finished the first, and
apparently the best, season.
I
think that’s been my month, watching, reading, sitting. This time next week I’ll
be in London, without any internet for a little while, back to soaking up all
the art that I can see before the new term starts. I am genuinely excited about
starting the new year and seeing what’s to come, as well as getting back to the
weekly blogs.
Enjoi.
Instagram:
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