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exploring virtual worlds from a critical perspective

[cologne – berlin]

 

Watch my music video for the band Xul Zolar:

The track Saint Gobain by Xul Zolar is reminiscent of video game soundtracks often created with synthesizers in the early 90s. At the same time, it also brings to mind dystopian tech fantasies like System Shock 2 and Deus Ex that emerged around the turn of the millennium: In the games, large corporations manipulate the world’s politics through surveillance networks powered by Artificial Intelligence, and implants modify the human body.

In the music video, sequences from the 2000 video game AI Wars: The Awakening are used to capture this vibe. The game is emblematic of a vision of the future that no longer seems too distant. In AI Wars, all structures are interconnected through the NET, which contains all the world’s information. Within this virtual world, Artificial Intelligences, also known as agents, carry out all the required actions.

Infused with AI-generated images as well as render sequences from the video game Thief: The Dark Project 2 (2000) and the ahead of its time TV show Profit (1996), the music video surrenders to a cold and unapproachable corporate cyber-aesthetic yet, like the track from Xul Zolar’s album Heidelbach, implicates the search for a human core.

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Written and performed by Xul Zolar

Produced by Georg Corad and Marius Bubat

Mastered by Jannis Bentler