DIGITAL VIDEO WALL

Sleep Made Simple (2019) is the video presented within the program RABBIT HOLE curate by Gemma Fantacci. DIGITAL VIDEO WALL is an annual project structured in thematic chapters, aimed at promoting the dissemination and experimentation of digital art, visible at METRONOM, Modena (IT).

Sleep Made Simple consists of a series of seven individual videos that, as the artist himself explains, «function as a succession of adverts for a fictitious unnamed company that promotes wellness and meditation, forewarning of the future of capitalism, digital healthcare and surveillance». The work appropriates the distinctive imagery of Instagram and its stories, as well as the isometric aesthetic of infographics and the lateral scrolling common to the live news feeds. Given the nature of the Digital Video Wall, the work is soundless, but in its original conception, it features an audio track reminiscent of the relaxation videos popular on YouTube and, at the same time, a male voice reads a series of overlay texts in a tone that resembles that of guided meditation apps. Bob Bicknell-Knight creates a series of fictitious advertisements in which the viewer is invited to be guided by the services offered by this fictitious company for the improvement of one’s body and mental health. The work reflects on the growing influence that apps, digital services and smartwatches designed to monitor an individual’s mental and physical health have on our society and how companies use our data for the development of increasingly targeted advertisements and services. Our well-being has now become a commodity subject to capitalist logics, broken down into a series of tasks and activities (such as taking a certain number of steps per day) that can be tracked to quantify our level of physical and mental well-being. Each individual is thus transformed into a fistful of data at the service of big tech companies as they develop new and increasingly sophisticated services to maximize their profits. Sleep Made Simple was commissioned by Daata Edition for the Bass Art Museum in Miami.

The second screening features the work of Bob Bicknell-Knight, Sleep Made Simple (2019, VIDEO, MP4). Bicknell-Night is a British multidisciplinary artist who works with a plethora of different media, ranging from video games, video, and painting, to name a few, and his artistic practice extends through writing and curating as well. His area of inquiry focuses on the critical examination of contemporary technologies, their use in today’s society and the effects they have on it.

Sleep Made Simple| BOB BICKNELL-KNIGHT
METRONOM|Via Carteria 10 | 41121 Modena