SODAS 2123 residency: interactive artwork “The Forest” by Bob Bicknell-Knight

On the 27th of April, Wednesday, from 4 PM to 7 PM we invite you to visit an interactive artwork “The Forest” by SODAS 2123 artist-in-residency program participant Bob Bicknell-Knight at Swallow project space.

Bob Bicknell-Knight (UK) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and writer, working primarily in painting, sculpture, video, installation and digital media. His work is influenced by surveillance capitalism and responds to the hyper consumerism of the internet, exploring ideas surrounding the automation of work, global power structures and technocratic authoritarianism, as well as critically examining contemporary technologies.

During the April at SODAS 2123 residency Bob Bicknell-Knight has been developing a first-person interactive artwork, accompanied by a series of paintings.

“The Forest” (working title) is a work in progress, interactive artwork that places audience members into an abandoned mountainous area. An unknown event has caused the inhabitants of this place to leave long ago, allowing the surrounding wildlife to infect and transform the structures that have been left behind

The work explores how relics and historical artefacts are perceived by future generations, surveillance culture, apocalyptic futures and the notion that human beings and our impact on the environment is virus-like, terra-forming and slowly obliterating the planet.

Through exploring the world and interacting with the artwork, viewers learn about the history of the space, slowly unravelling why this location may have been abandoned. Within the work participants are provided with a number of answers, from a rapture-like event occurring to the outbreak of a deadly virus.

The work is being produced using the game development software Unity, and features a 3D environment, running water, wind effects and digital bird song. Although the experience features revelatory moments, it’s also a reflective one, enabling audience members to go for a walk in the woods, take a seat by the river or watch artificially intelligent birds flying in the sky.

The accompanying paintings feature different prefab elements incorporated into the interactive artwork. Prefabs are collections of game objects used in multiple places across a given game. They are usually simple objects, like trees or plants, which are also bought and sold on the Unity Asset Store. You may see the same prefab used in several different games. Their widespread use could be seen as homogenizing the video game creation process.

These paintings are hybrid artworks, with their method of production being honed over the past few years. The pieces begin as digitally edited fabricated images. They are then printed onto canvas, stretched and then painted onto with acrylic paint, with the offline artist’s hand interacting with the original online digital image. The sides are colour matched, and the front of the canvas is partially painted onto.

The installation is open for the visitors on the 27th of April, from 4 to 7 PM at Swallow project space, on the second floor of SODAS 2123 (Vitebsko str. 21, Vilnius).

Project partners: project space Swallow

SODAS 2123 residency program is funded by Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius city municipality.[en:]On the 27th of April, Wednesday, from 4 PM to 7 PM we invite you to visit an interactive artwork “The Forest” by SODAS 2123 artist-in-residency program participant Bob Bicknell-Knight at Swallow project space.

Bob Bicknell-Knight (UK) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and writer, working primarily in painting, sculpture, video, installation and digital media. His work is influenced by surveillance capitalism and responds to the hyper consumerism of the internet, exploring ideas surrounding the automation of work, global power structures and technocratic authoritarianism, as well as critically examining contemporary technologies.

During the April at SODAS 2123 residency Bob Bicknell-Knight has been developing a first-person interactive artwork, accompanied by a series of paintings.

“The Forest” (working title) is a work in progress, interactive artwork that places audience members into an abandoned mountainous area. An unknown event has caused the inhabitants of this place to leave long ago, allowing the surrounding wildlife to infect and transform the structures that have been left behind

The work explores how relics and historical artefacts are perceived by future generations, surveillance culture, apocalyptic futures and the notion that human beings and our impact on the environment is virus-like, terra-forming and slowly obliterating the planet.

Through exploring the world and interacting with the artwork, viewers learn about the history of the space, slowly unravelling why this location may have been abandoned. Within the work participants are provided with a number of answers, from a rapture-like event occurring to the outbreak of a deadly virus.

The work is being produced using the game development software Unity, and features a 3D environment, running water, wind effects and digital bird song. Although the experience features revelatory moments, it’s also a reflective one, enabling audience members to go for a walk in the woods, take a seat by the river or watch artificially intelligent birds flying in the sky.

The accompanying paintings feature different prefab elements incorporated into the interactive artwork. Prefabs are collections of game objects used in multiple places across a given game. They are usually simple objects, like trees or plants, which are also bought and sold on the Unity Asset Store. You may see the same prefab used in several different games. Their widespread use could be seen as homogenizing the video game creation process.

These paintings are hybrid artworks, with their method of production being honed over the past few years. The pieces begin as digitally edited fabricated images. They are then printed onto canvas, stretched and then painted onto with acrylic paint, with the offline artist’s hand interacting with the original online digital image. The sides are colour matched, and the front of the canvas is partially painted onto.

The installation is open for the visitors on the 27th of April, from 4 to 7 PM at Swallow project space, on the second floor of SODAS 2123 (Vitebsko str. 21, Vilnius).

Project partners: project space Swallow

SODAS 2123 residency program is funded by Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius city municipality.