HANAKAM & SCHULLER

Hanakam and Schuller’s new animated work Cosmic Commissioner takes a satirical dive into the world of typical AI-generated styles such as new-age, comicesque and hyperrealism, which are based on creative commons and influenced by big tech, as well as their handling of diversity and material bases. The narrative character is the fictional Cosmic Commissioner – inspired by Victor Gruen, the exiled Austrian architect and urban planner – who reacts to burning environmental and security issues on Earth as a more-than-human being from the cosmos. In 1975 Gruen, godfather of the American suburban shopping mall, wrote his satirical book: Is Progress a Crime? Environmental planning instead of the End of the World. Gruen turned increasingly to environmental planning in the 1970s – under the influence of contemporary phenomena such as environmental destruction, the space race and nuclear armament. Scenes with architects, military personnel, urban planners and environmental activists are realised through short dialogues from Gruen’s texts on the level of lyrics and synthetic disco space sounds. The project links historical and current social challenges such as global security and environmental destruction. Cosmic Commissioner invites you to take a reflective, humorous look at the interfaces between AI, pop culture and social challenges – a visual and acoustic journey through time, space and digital realities.The Mise en Scène consists of a large scale square format projection (wall) carrying the animation work alongside an Expanded Dialogue in the medium of a collaged wallpaper. The video installation is complemented by collage- like wallpaper and a series of AI-generated portraits.