Idle Animation
Idle Animation (working title) is an artwork that aims to reclaim public space through slowness and meditating on a single moment.
Public space in cities is on the decline, and nowhere is this truer than in Birmingham and London, the respective homes of the artists.
In city centres rest is discouraged. Public seating is rare and purposefully uncomfortable as to remind you to not stay still for too long. Any opportunity for rest is tied to commercial activity e.g. purchasing something from the bar, or a seat on a train.
In Idle Animation we seek to reclaim these public spaces. It stretches out single moments in time from chaotic city environments into something glitchy yet fluid. This is set to a soundtrack filled with emptiness and sparseness that evolves slowly over each iteration.
In viewing this work we hope the viewer is able to find peace and clarity through the noise and busy landscapes.
If selected for this project the artists will produce several videos.
Technical details
The visuals for the piece, by Antonio Roberts aka hellocatfood, are created through the misuse of motion interpolation software. This software is usually used for slowing down a video or increasing its frame rate. It accomplishes this by approximating the movement of pixels between two frames and creating “in between” frames. By creating thousands of in frames between two unique images Roberts reveals glitches and inconsistencies in how the technology works.
The audio for the piece, by Derwin Dicker aka Gold Panda, was created using an Akai mpc sampler. Fragments of sound are taken from vinyl records and manipulated into a repetitive loop that on longer listening reveals multiple layers, ephemeral notes and unidentifiable source material.
Biographies
Antonio Roberts
Antonio Roberts is an artist, musician and curator based in Birmingham, UK. His practice is concerned with how the misuse of digital technology impacts people of colour and other marginalised groups.
His recent work focuses on the depiction of Black people in digital media, ranging from stereotypical misrepresentations in early video games to modern algorithms and AI codifying existing biases.
His (Algo|Afro) Futures mentoring programme teaches live coding software as a way to address how Black people have been under/misrepresented in digital art and electronic music, despite being pivotal to its development.
He is currently learning game development, with the aim to explore how immersive environments can be used as a narrative storytelling device. He is also working on his debut EP, created using a combination of live coding software and hardware synthesisers.
Derwin Dicker
Derwin Dicker, aka Gold Panda, is a musician, artist and producer who lives and works in London. His music investigates sampling techniques borrowed from 90s hip-hop and uk dance music, with a focus on micro-sampling and collage using vintage Akai samplers.
Derwin has released five albums as Gold Panda to critical acclaim, and has performed worldwide and at festivals such as Mutek, Sonar, Glastonbury, Robot, Sasquatch and Summer Sonic. In 2020 he performed with Anoushka Shankar at the BBC Proms.
Gold Panda’s writing and remix credits include music for Charlie XCX and Lykke Li, and his debut album ‘Lucky Shiner’ was the winner of The Guardian’s Debut Album Award.
Derwin’s other musical projects include Softman, Dj Jenifa and collaborations with Tourist, Fort Romeau, Open Mike Eagle and Jas Shaw of Simian Mobile Disco.
Derwin is currently working in Pure Data to develop improvisational tools and techniques for composition and live performance.