ZWRP / ZEITWARP

DO ANDROIDS DREAM
OF ELECTRIC NOISE - #9

ART BEATS INSTALLATION

ZWRP / ZEITWARP

DO ANDROIDS DREAM

OF ELECTRIC NOISE #9

ART BEATS INSTALLATION

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE - #9

WTF ?

'DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE' is an internationally exhibited multiform series of artworks & artefacts exploring human culture in the machine age set within the context of an entropic universe.

The series includes physical installation, audiovisual digital/video art, PHREAK MUSIC soundscapes, singular objects and limited edition prints.

Since its genesis in 2022 individual works from 'DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE' have been exhibited in Lisbon, San Francisco, Bangkok, Austin and Oakland.

The seven foot high installation exhibited in the window at Art Beats in Saffron Walden is the 9th piece in the series.

Glitched image digital artwork of a Robot Mannequin DJ

INSTALLATION DETAILS

HIGHLIGHT REEL

  • #9 in a series of unique post-conceptual artworks

  • Transience, obsolescence, retro-halcyonism vs techno-futurism, contemporary human existence in the machine age, Prometheus, Ozymandias...it's all here.

  • Internationally exhibited since 2022

  • 'Re-Make / Re-Model' - Created from salvaged & second-hand materials

  • Multi-layered textured distressed surface with silica, & metallic water-based enamels.

  • Plinth created from a pair of damaged 1970's B&O Beomaster FM Tuners - includes castor rollers and discrete mood lighting.

  • Plinth surface finished with 60 carats of diamond dust.

  • Accompanying series of limited edition 250gsm remix art prints

  • Order information at the bottom of the page

  • Installation & delivery included (mainland UK only)

Glitched image digital artwork of a Robot Mannequin DJ

"I AIN'T READING ALL THAT"

DEEP DIVE / TL:DR

​There is a lot more info & images buried in the expandable dropdowns ( >>>>) & slideshows on this page - including detail on the themes and ideas behind the work, its history and exhibitions, the materials and processes used and the accompanying limited edition remix art prints.

However, in the sparse attention desert of modern life not everyone has the time or inclination for this kind of thing, so please just dive in as deep as you want.

(Alternatively through the magic of the interweb you can jump straight down to the purchase info.)

DOWN TO ZERO

RE-MAKE / RE-MODEL

The installation has been created exclusively from reclaimed, salvaged or second hand objects >>>>

This is a deliberate choice that chimes with the themes of both this piece and the wider conceptual ZWRP/Zeitwarp universe:

  • The heavily worn base mannequin was sourced from a store closure in Manchester.

  • The 'Electro-Slider' keyboard was extracted from a water-damaged 1970's Godwin home electronic organ and then modified into a cyberpunk 'Key-Tar'.

  • The plinth is made from a pair of heavily damaged Bang & Olufsen Beomaster 1400 FM stereo receivers - originally designed by Jacob Jensen in the early 1970's.

  • The textured 'lunar' surface on the units is finished with 60 carats of diamond dust - (a discarded by-product from polishing and cutting.)

  • The plinth substrate and castors were recovered from a cast-off piece of audiovisual furniture.

  • The 'Key-Tar' strap is made from an end-of-life ratchet strap.

  • The other accessories were all either sourced second hand or rescued from landfill.

Glitched image digital artwork of a Robot Mannequin DJ

ROUGH MIX

SURFACE APPEAL

The surface of the principal figure features multiple strata of metallic enamels and fine silica - combining a distressed 'archaeological' effect with a futuristic alien aesthetic - Why? >>>>

Transience, obsolescence and the tension/disconnect between the past and the future - and its implications on the present - have been key ZWRP / Zeitwarp themes since 2016.

At the same time the sonnet 'Ozymandias' by Shelley has been a motif of some of the work produced in the intervening period - albeit with a futuristic twist. (The transience of statuary is an interesting enough topic on its own - and perhaps encapsulates the entire premise!)

Given the specific conceptual premise of the DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE series - as a commentary on humanity in the machine age within an only forwards universe - I also wanted the subject to appear 'super human' - both in terms of its comic-book physicality but also in its alien countenance.

Literally 'beyond human'.

Equally it needed to capture the bifurcated longevity of a collision between the past and the future.

OZYMANDIAS REMIXED

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

The silver/blue 'geological' finish on the custom Bang & Olufsen plinth is finished with 60 carats of diamond dust. This is not just 'for the bling'... >>>>

The installation plinth was created from a pair of heavily damaged Beomaster 1400 FM Tuners. The conceptual premise was a reference to the Ozymandian themes of hegemony, transience and obsolescence - with a nod to retro-halcyonism and the totemic contemporary power of nostalgia.

The veneer finish and solid wood substrate on both units were in a state of significant distress. Consequently the surfaces were rendered with a custom silver/blue 'lunar surface' effect.

Diamond dust felt like a natural choice as a finishing touch.

Diamonds are produced under the (past) effects of time and pressure and are renowned for their (future) endurance and value.

This seemed appropriate given the subject matter.

There is also the matter of perception, attachment, transmission and significance.

The 'dust' is collected during the cutting and polishing process. It is unpolished and rough and yet retains its luminous sparkle. It is literally 'fractional' in value compared to a single cut and polished stone - and yet it is the same elemental material (carbon)..and the 60 carat weight was chosen specifically to be slightly in excess of the famed Pink Panther diamond (at 59.6 carats).

(The capture of carbon within the allotropic diamond structure is also an interesting 'facet' given the underlying themes of the work - but we must stop joining the dots somewhere...)

ROUGH MIX

SURFACE APPEAL

The surface of the principal figure features multiple strata of metallic enamels and fine silica - combining a distressed 'archaeological' effect with a futuristic alien aesthetic - Why? >>>>

Transience, obsolescence and the tension/disconnect between the past and the future - and its implications on the present - have been key ZWRP / Zeitwarp themes since 2016.

At the same time the sonnet 'Ozymandias' by Shelley has been a motif of some of the work produced in the intervening period - albeit with a futuristic twist. (The transience of statuary is an interesting enough topic on its own - and perhaps encapsulates the entire premise!)

Given the specific conceptual premise of the DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE series - as a commentary on humanity in the machine age within an only forwards universe - I also wanted the subject to appear 'super human' - both in terms of its comic-book physicality but also in its alien countenance.

Literally 'beyond human'.

Equally it needed to capture the bifurcated longevity of a collision between the past and the future.

OZYMANDIAS REMIXED

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

The silver/blue 'geological' finish on the custom Bang & Olufsen plinth is finished with 60 carats of diamond dust. This is not just 'for the bling'... >>>>

The installation plinth was created from a pair of heavily damaged Beomaster 1400 FM Tuners. The conceptual premise was a reference to the Ozymandian themes of hegemony, transience and obsolescence - with a nod to retro-halcyonism and the totemic contemporary power of nostalgia.

The veneer finish and solid wood substrate on both units were in a state of significant distress. Consequently the surfaces were rendered with a custom silver/blue 'lunar surface' effect.

Diamond dust felt like a natural choice as a finishing touch.

Diamonds are produced under the (past) effects of time and pressure and are renowned for their (future) endurance and value.

This seemed appropriate given the subject matter.

There is also the matter of perception, attachment, transmission and significance.

The 'dust' is collected during the cutting and polishing process. It is unpolished and rough and yet retains its luminous sparkle. It is literally 'fractional' in value compared to a single cut and polished stone - and yet it is the same elemental material (carbon)..and the 60 carat weight was chosen specifically to be slightly in excess of the famed Pink Panther diamond (at 59.6 carats).

(The capture of carbon within the allotropic diamond structure is also an interesting 'facet' given the underlying themes of the work - but we must stop joining the dots somewhere...)

TECHNOBABBLE

FUTURE SHOCK

Retro-halcyonism and techno-futurism fight to the death against an increasingly turbulent contemporary backdrop. Who wins?...You decide! - >>>>

Despite the future-retro /retro-futurist aesthetic, the 'Do Androids' series is firmly situated in the present tense.

Thematically, the headline focus is on the ongoing Promethean dynamic between humanity and technology - particularly with reference to culture in the machine age.

However - both superficially and subtextually - the series is also a commentary on transience, obsolescence and the influence of both a nostalgic past and a utopian/dystopian future on contemporary human existence.

TECHNOBABBLE

FUTURE SHOCK

Retro-halcyonism and techno-futurism fight to the death against an increasingly turbulent contemporary backdrop. Who wins?...You decide! - >>>>

Despite the future-retro /retro-futurist aesthetic, the 'Do Androids' series is firmly situated in the present tense.

Thematically, the headline focus is on the ongoing Promethean dynamic between humanity and technology - particularly with reference to culture in the machine age.

However - both superficially and subtextually - the series is also a commentary on the influence of both a nostalgic past and visions of a utopian/dystopian future on contemporary human existence.

“…that’s the kind of Avant Garde that gets my heart up…”

CLARIAN - Anjunadeep Artist, Tamago Streaming.

NEVER EXPLAIN - PART TWO

HOW DID I GET HERE?

In September 2022 - six weeks before Chat GPT launched - I gave a conference speech in Lisbon addressing the implications, opportunities and response of digital creatives to the emergence of generative AI.

This was the 'Summer of Dall-E 2' and everyone (who had access) was having fun messing around with Open AI's generative graphics tool.

At the same time I was working in the the studio on a new piece that was due to be exhibited at Rare Effect #3 (also in Lisbon) that November. It was another adventure in the reverberations of retrofuturism and halcyonism with a cyberpunk aesthetic.

Although this wasn't the first time that I had been creating on the theme of AI and humanity - "AI vs HUMAN" was projected onto the Berlin skyline in July 2021 - it was first time I was using a mannequin as a 'human replacement' - which seemed to resonate with the themes of the work.

Six weeks later it was being exhibited at Arroz Estúdios and featured in their promotion at the Cais do Sodré metro station in central Lisbon.

It became the first piece in a series called DI$PLACEMENT DISCO - of which Do Androids Dream of Electric Noise is a sub-set of - that dealt specifically with technological displacement and the AI singularity.

A year later I was back in Lisbon talking on a panel about the future of digital culture and specifically music in a post-GPT economy. The streaming platforms were becoming increasingly populated by both bot account "listeners" and generative tracks.

I was reminded of how in 2017 Facebook had abandoned an experimental AI program after - for convenience - two language machines began chatting to each other in a new language that only they understood.

My throwaway response to the next question about 'streamonomics' became the inspiration to a new series of work:

________________________

"That's great...but I guess the question really is...Do Androids Dream of Electric Noise?"

________________________

ANY COLOUR...AS LONG AS IT'S BLUE

"THESE ARE JUST REQUESTS"

"Can I order one in purple?" - Sorry, no. - "Will there be one in purple?" - Yep, almost definitely - >>>>

While the overall aesthetic is consistent throughout the DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE series - both the surface detail and constituent elements of each piece is fundamentally driven by the creation process.

_____________________

"The work reveals itself as you go"

The Creative Act - RICK RUBIN

________________________

Rick Rubin perhaps captured this perfectly in the above quote - although my process has been equally influenced by Robert M Pirsig's epic metaphysical rumination on 'quality' - Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (*)

I have a very firm idea of the intentions of the work - both in terms of the final visual effect and the message it's aiming to communicate - the endgame is not defined before the opening moves have been made.

Given that everything within each installation is salvaged, recycled or reclaimed under a Re-Make / Re-Model philosophy with Duchampian echoes, it is impossible to predict the details of the outcome.

It really does depend on what I can source in service of the concept.

Colour however is one area where there is some choice - but it is informed by what the other elements suggest and ultimately settled during the process of multi-strata painting.

For example, the dominant metallic blue finish on DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE #9 was the final finish on top of nine previous layers. Some of this is deliberate in that the first few layers are textural - and also serve the distressed/decay aesthetic - however the last few layers are iterative, experimental and fraught with self-doubt and dread...aiming to achieve a visual effect that matches the original artistic vision.

________________________

"The work is done when you feel it is"

The Creative Act - RICK RUBIN

________________________

So yes, there almost definitely will be one in purple as "repetition is the death of art, it's been done" - (Chris Stevens, KBHR - Northern Exposure) - but I'm afraid it really can't be made to order.

(*) Honourable mention to Hakim Bey's Immediatism and Temporary Autonomous Zone and the John Higgs book The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned a Million Pounds.

“…that’s the kind of Avant Garde that gets my heart up…”

CLARIAN - Anjunadeep Artist, Tamago Streaming.

NEVER EXPLAIN - PART TWO

HOW DID I GET HERE?

In September 2022 - six weeks before Chat GPT launched - I gave a conference speech in Lisbon addressing the implications, opportunities and response of digital creatives to the emergence of generative AI.

This was the 'Summer of Dall-E 2' and everyone (who had access) was having fun messing around with Open AI's generative graphics tool.

At the same time I was working in the the studio on a new piece that was due to be exhibited at Rare Effect #3 (also in Lisbon) that November. It was another adventure in the reverberations of retrofuturism and halcyonism with a cyberpunk aesthetic.

Although this wasn't the first time that I had been creating on the theme of AI and humanity - "AI vs HUMAN" was projected onto the Berlin skyline in July 2021 - it was first time I was using a mannequin as a 'human replacement' - which seemed to resonate with the themes of the work.

Six weeks later it was being exhibited at Arroz Estúdios and featured in their promotion at the Cais do Sodré metro station in central Lisbon.

It became the first piece in a series called DI$PLACEMENT DISCO - of which Do Androids Dream of Electric Noise is a sub-set of - that dealt specifically with technological displacement and the AI singularity.

A year later I was back in Lisbon talking on a panel about the future of digital culture and specifically music in a post-GPT economy. The streaming platforms were becoming increasingly populated by both bot account "listeners" and generative tracks.

I was reminded of how in 2017 Facebook had abandoned an experimental AI program after - for convenience - two language machines began chatting to each other in a new language that only they understood.

My throwaway response to the next question about 'streamonomics' became the inspiration to a new series of work:

________________________

"That's great...but I guess the question really is...Do Androids Dream of Electric Noise?"

________________________

Glitched image digital artwork of a Robot Mannequin DJ

ANY COLOUR...AS LONG AS IT'S BLUE

"THESE ARE JUST REQUESTS"

"Can I order one in purple?" - Sorry, no. - "Will there be one in purple?" - Yep, almost definitely - >>>>

While the overall aesthetic is consistent throughout the DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE series - both the surface detail and constituent elements of each piece is fundamentally driven by the creation process.

_____________________

"The work reveals itself as you go"

The Creative Act - RICK RUBIN

________________________

Rick Rubin perhaps captured this perfectly in the above quote - although my process has been equally influenced by Robert M Pirsig's epic metaphysical rumination on 'quality' - Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (*)

I have a very firm idea of the intentions of the work - both in terms of the final visual effect and the message it's aiming to communicate - the endgame is not defined before the opening moves have been made.

Given that everything within each installation is salvaged, recycled or reclaimed under a Re-Make / Re-Model philosophy with Duchampian echoes, it is impossible to predict the details of the outcome.

It really does depend on what I can source in service of the concept.

Colour however is one area where there is some choice - but it is informed by what the other elements suggest and ultimately settled during the process of multi-strata painting.

For example, the dominant metallic blue finish on DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE #9 was the final finish on top of nine previous layers. Some of this is deliberate in that the first few layers are textural - and also serve the distressed/decay aesthetic - however the last few layers are iterative, experimental and fraught with self-doubt and dread...aiming to achieve a visual effect that matches the original artistic vision.

________________________

"The work is done when you feel it is"

The Creative Act - RICK RUBIN

________________________

So yes, there almost definitely will be one in purple as "repetition is the death of art, it's been done" - (Chris Stevens, KBHR - Northern Exposure) - but I'm afraid it really can't be made to order.

(*) Honourable mention to Hakim Bey's Immediatism and Temporary Autonomous Zone and the John Higgs book The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned a Million Pounds.

ANOTHER FINE EDITION OF YOU

PRINTS...

& THE REVOLUTION

A pair of remix artworks from 'DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE #9' are available in a limited edition series of 250gsm signed and certificated art prints - >>>>

The prints are single frame transformations selected from a digital video artwork featuring the installation.

Each remix is restricted to a limited edition of 49 signed, stamped, numbered and certificated art prints.

The heavy duty 250gsm prints are available either or framed - in a choice black or white, both with a white mount.

You can order a print though the link at the bottom of this page - or purchase and collect directly from Art Beats. Free delivery to the UK Mainland.

ANOTHER FINE EDITION OF YOU

PRINTS...

& THE REVOLUTION

A pair of remix artworks from 'DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE #9' are available in a limited edition series of 250gsm signed and certificated art prints - >>>>

The prints are single frame transformations selected from a digital video artwork featuring the installation.

Each remix is restricted to a limited edition of 49 signed, stamped, numbered and certificated art prints.

The heavy duty 250gsm prints are available either or framed - in a choice black or white, both with a white mount.

You can order a print though the link at the bottom of this page - or purchase and collect directly from Art Beats. Free delivery to the UK Mainland.

“We were partying hard at the Wilde Möhre Festival near Drebkau in Germany...people danced to the loud and pumping electric music...two pieces of Zeitwarp‘s music note art works were hanging on the wooden walls...majestic and mystically lit up by the flashes of the disco lights and stroboscopes.

Next day, hung over, I bought both paintings...”

'Y.S.' - MUSIC GRAFFITI Owner, Zurich

DISCOGRAPHY

WHO TF?

My name is Dan Quill. I'm an internationally exhibited full-time multi-disciplinary artist & maker living in Saffron Walden. Zeitwarp is the name of my studio and ZWRP is our in-house 'brand' - more >>>>

Output includes immersive physical paintings & objects, organic digital art, music/sound/noise, live art / multi-sensory installations, metaverse activations..."and all that other mother jazz".

ZWRP '21st Century Artefacts' include conceptual 'objects', artistic furniture, paintings and limited edition fine art prints.

ZWRP/Zeitwarp artwork and creations have been exhibited internationally both in physical and digital form in Miami, Lisbon, Berlin, Bangkok, Milan, San Francisco, etc

Other major global art destinations are available...

During a fluctuating and varied career journey, the ideas and output that represent the ZWRP/Zeitwarp concept continued to develop in an inverse relationship with any definition of a conventional vocation or career pathway.

Eventually, it took over completely.

This was probably always going to happen.

________________________

“I think ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been."

DAVID BOWIE

“My career's, uh, slowed down a little lately."

Dude - THE BIG LEBOWSKI

________________________

If you'd like to know more about either Zeitwarp, ZWRP or myself then there's some more information on the Zeitwarp homepage.

We're no longer active on social media - passive yes...but active?....no. (There are a bunch of good reasons for this.)

The best way to connect is to join The Outer Limits monthly email newsletter which features news of exclusive ZWRP art/objects/merch 'drops', upcoming exhibitions & installations, and news on our Caymana initiative to support and promote grassroots culture.

You can sign up at the bottom of this page - thanks.

(The slideshow gallery to the right also includes images taken from a selection of exhibitions across three continents.)

DISCOGRAPHY

WHO TF?

My name is Dan Quill. I'm an internationally exhibited full-time multi-disciplinary artist & maker living in Saffron Walden. Zeitwarp is the name of my studio and ZWRP is our in-house 'brand' - more >>>>

Output includes immersive physical paintings & objects, organic digital art, music/sound/noise, live art / multi-sensory installations, metaverse activations..."and all that other mother jazz".

ZWRP '21st Century Artefacts' include conceptual 'objects', artistic furniture, paintings and limited edition fine art prints.

ZWRP/Zeitwarp artwork and creations have been exhibited internationally both in physical and digital form in Miami, Lisbon, Berlin, Bangkok, Milan, San Francisco, etc

Other major global art destinations are available...

During a fluctuating and varied career journey, the ideas and output that represent the ZWRP/Zeitwarp concept continued to develop in an inverse relationship with any definition of a conventional vocation or career pathway.

Eventually, it took over completely.

This was probably always going to happen.

________________________

“I think ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been."

DAVID BOWIE

“My career's, uh, slowed down a little lately."

Dude - THE BIG LEBOWSKI

________________________

If you'd like to know more about either Zeitwarp, ZWRP or myself then there's some more information on the Zeitwarp homepage.

We're no longer active on social media - passive yes...but active?....no. (There are a bunch of good reasons for this.)

The best way to connect is to join The Outer Limits monthly email newsletter which features news of exclusive ZWRP art/objects/merch 'drops', upcoming exhibitions & installations, and news on our Caymana initiative to support and promote grassroots culture.

You can sign up at the bottom of this page - thanks.

(The slideshow gallery below also includes images taken from a selection of exhibitions across three continents.)

“We were partying hard at the Wilde Möhre Festival near Drebkau in Germany...people danced to the loud and pumping electric music...two pieces of Zeitwarp‘s music note art works were hanging on the wooden walls...majestic and mystically lit up by the flashes of the disco lights and stroboscopes.

Next day, hung over, I bought both paintings...”

'Y.S.' - MUSIC GRAFFITI Owner, Zurich

WHERE TO BUY | HOW TO BUY

SHUT UP & TAKE MY MONEY!

The physical installation is available for purchase. The price is £2995. This includes delivery and installation within the mainland UK.

The installation is accompanied by a signed and stamped/sealed ZWRP certificate of authenticity and record of ownership.

The owner of the piece will also receive a pair of framed (or unframed) 'Artist Proof' prints of the remix artworks.

COLLECT THE ART PRINTS
DO ANDROID DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE #9

WHERE TO BUY | HOW TO BUY

SHUT UP & TAKE MY MONEY!

The physical installation is available for purchase.

The price is £2995. This includes delivery and installation within the mainland UK.

The installation is accompanied by a signed and stamped/sealed ZWRP certificate of authenticity and record of ownership.

The owner of the piece will also receive a pair of framed (or unframed) 'Artist Proof' prints of the remix artworks.

COLLECT THE ART PRINTS
DO ANDROID DREAM OF ELECTRIC NOISE #9

THE OUTER LIMITS

The Outer Limits is a monthly email broadcast from Zeitwarp Studios featuring exclusive artwork releases, news on upcoming exhibitions, installations & other events - plus updates on our Caymana initiative to support/promote grassroots culture.

(Please remember to confirm your subscription in the email that you will receive right after signing up, thanks.)