The Great Western Singularity

Time:  4pm – Saturday, 24th September

The Great Western Singularity | Eric Schockmel | 2010 | 4 minutes

synopsis: Commissioned by jotta.com and sponsored by Intel for the REMASTERED: a jotta and Intel Visual Life Production exhibition at One Marylebone London (March 2011), The Great Western Singularity is a contemporary reinterpretation of JMW Turner’s iconic painting Rain, Steam and Speed: The Great Western Railway. The animation explores the concept of the Technological Singularity through the metaphor of a train which, instead of rolling on tracks, is building itself out of it’s own structure. A metaphor for technological progress and Moore’s Law, it evolves incessantly while approaching an abyss of unpredictability, while impacting the landscape  it traverses.

bio: Eric Schockmel started exploring visual arts through graphic design, before broadening his scope to digital animation. His animations have been shown at exhibitions and film festivals in London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin and Beijing. His animation Occupation: Movements I, II, III has been shown at Ars Electronica Linz Animation Festival, Vimeo Festival in New York and Alpha-Ville Festival at the Whitechapel Gallery. In 2010, Jotta.com commissioned The Great Western Singularity for REMASTERED, an exhibtion sponsored by Intel. Eric Schockmel has graduated with distinction from Central Saint Martins (MA Communication Design) in 2008. He is co-founder of Watergun London, a production company specializing in film, animation, music videos and advertising.