On occasion I happen across our local postman walking his British bulldog in the park, our dogs get along so we stand and make small talk, discussing lockdown extensions and how our work has been impacted. He tells me everyday is like the run up to Christmas, a constant flow of Amazon deliveries charted through the Royal Mail. During the first national lockdown they could barely keep up. Those conversations put a face to the frontline of an automated workforce, it grounds a buy-it-now mentality to a human interface, to human labour and additional strains. Though most postmen and delivery drivers pause to stop, each package being micromanaged, robbing professions of meaningful exchange. And we never see the factory floor.
Concerning systems of technocratic authoritarianism, Bob Bicknell-Knight’s practice offers a multi-faceted reflection upon our complicite relation with corporate giants, with subtle layers of material critique established within the art production process itself. Displayed across a series of scenes within The Terminal (2021), three canvases from Bicknell-Knight’s Picker (2020 - ongoing) series are incorporated into office interiors, backrooms and a battleground. Produced as ink printed canvases and finished with touches of acrylic paint applied to the front and sides of the canvas by the artist, the Picker series renders the human employees of Amazon Fulfillment Centers blurred and warped, recollecting Google’s Deep Dream software and other machine vision interpretations of human subjects. This forced perspective conveys a petri-dish mentality, through which Amazon quantifies all human action in order to maximise efficiency.
Shown in this corresponding online space, Packing (2020) is one of the few remaining paintings from the first generation of the Picker series, it’s display parodying Amazon’s often remarked “Only 1 left in stock.”
Alongside his painting, Bicknell-Knight is also presenting a sculptural installation that’s connected to the Picker series. The first in a series of sculptures responding to Amazon’s treatment of it’s workers, John (Stower) (2021) comprises an aluminum modular extrusion system commonly used in autonomous production lines, topped with a 3D printed arm with an SD card embedded within. Stored on the memory card is an interview with the affected employee, it’s internalised status portraying two interpretations, firstly, internalised mental anguish and second, the biotic practices of monitoring workers’ every action.
Finally, presented with thanks to Daata Editions, is Bicknell-Knight’s video work State of Affairs (2019). Pieced together from extracts of the YouTube channel News Direct, State of Affairs compiles dated Y2K animations of future technologies, from facial recognition software to drone surveillance. Presented in a continuous stream, the narrative form reflectives ritual practices of internet navigation, the one-more-video mentality or terror of opening tab after tab of clickbait articles. Accompanied by a soothing, melodic soundtrack and augmented voiceover, forewaring the gamification of real space, State of Affairs unnerves the banal imagery of innovation by presenting it as an unthinking incessant advance.
Bob Bicknell-Knight (b. 1996) is a London based artist, curator and writer whose practice responds to surveillance capitalism and internet hyper consumerism. Founder of the online platform isthisit? he programmes digital and physical exhibitions addressing digital culture. Recent projects address drone technologies, tech billionaires and labour conditions. Solo and duo exhibitions include: It’s Always Day One, Office Impart, Berlin; Eat The Rich, Galerie Polaris, Paris (2021); Bit Rot, Broadway Gallery, Letchworth (2020); State of Affairs, Salon 75, Copenhagen; The Big Four, Harlesden High Street, London (2019); and CACOTOPIA 02, Annka Kultys Gallery, London (2018). As well as group shows: Life and Beyond, Lewisham Art House, London; Overtime at The Bass, The Bass Museum, Miami; Portrait of Zuck, Galerie Manqué, New York City (2019); and Inside Intel, The Centre for Investigative Journalism, London (2018), amongst others. Through isthisit? he has curated exhibitions for Annka Kultys Gallery, arebyte Gallery, Daata Editions and State of the Art Berlin, among others.
The Terminal: Human Shaped Whole
directed by: Jason Isolini
featuring: Bob Bicknell-Knight, Ian Bruner, Joshua Citarella, Jessica Evans, James Irwin, Claire Jervert, Kakia Konstantinaki, Angeline Meitzler, Erin Mitchell and Neale Willis
curated by: Off Site Project
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Bob Bicknell-Knight .