Turning the Prism, 2023
Ben Cullen Williams and Ben Frost
Video and sound
Distance is created using a custom generative algorithm which is trained on video footage of post-industrial landscapes taken from different modes of transport: car, train and boat. This is underscored by the metal influences within Frost’s sound, metal having emerged from cities with a prevalence of heavy industry. The video exists in a continual state between creation and destruction, simultaneously both and neither. Reflecting on the destructive and creative nature of new technologies. While inhabiting a continuous journey, where there is no destination just travel. The algorithm does not intentionally abstract, it however takes the average of the image. Faster training footage creates blurred images and slower footage creates clearer images, the relationship simple but layered. Through this the work reflects on the medium of painting and film created through the development of documenting and questioning the changing landscapes that we inhabit.
