GREGORY BENNETT

Exosphere (2018)
HD video with audio
Duration: 20 minutes, 47 seconds looped

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Exosphere (2018) continues my exploration of a synthetic world, created using high-end 3D animation software and motion capture. The term ‘exosphere’ references the uppermost layer of atmosphere surrounding a planet, where it thins out and merges with interplanetary space. An in-between zone that suggests both limitations and possibilities.

This was partly inspired by French philosopher Paul Virilio’s suggestion that the modern city has become a ‘claustropolis’, where the inhabitants feel the need to put up what he describes as an ‘exospherical fence’ or barrier to fend off the unknown dangers of the outside world.

Another significant influence is The Panopticon, an institutional design concept created by the 18th century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham whereby inmates of an institution can be observed by a single watcher. This has come to be read as a metaphor for modern “disciplinary” societies and their pervasive inclination to observe and normalise, where the watched become compelled to regulate their own behaviour. Employing multiple humanoid forms trapped in perpetual looped motions, this work also reflects the primary functions of The Panopticon, which enacts ideas of surveillance, regulated behaviour and the disciplinary society.