Oreet Ashery's 'Revisiting Genesis' Explores Digital Death Industry
Oreet Ashery's ongoing web video series, 'Revisiting Genesis' (2016–present), employs documentary fiction to delve into life within a capitalist framework where death is treated as a commodity. This twelve-episode initiative investigates the modern death industry, revealing how businesses leverage digital advancements for both the dying and their loved ones. The narrative centers on two nurses, Jackie (Akiya Henri) and GP Vanda Playford, as they engage with individuals contemplating their digital legacies. Among the characters is Genesis, a dying artist, alongside a mannequin, intertwining real-life figures with fictional ones. Episode five features Bambi (Martin O'Brien), who has cystic fibrosis, and Bina 48, a humanoid robot proclaiming that 'death is optional.' The series critiques the commercialization of death and includes a lecture, a film, and a Death Metal concert by Anoxide.
Key facts
- Oreet Ashery's 'Revisiting Genesis' is an open-access web-based video series in twelve episodes.
- The project investigates the contemporary death industry and its use of digital technologies.
- Two nurses named Jackie are played by Akiya Henri and Vanda Playford.
- Biographical slideshows can be activated by scanning a gravestone with an iPad or accessing online posthumous websites.
- The character Genesis is a seated mannequin in a blue blanket, inspired by Dora Gordine and Amy Winehouse.
- The video was partially shot at Dorich House, Gordine's London studio.
- Episode five features Bambi, played by artist Martin O'Brien, and the humanoid robot Bina 48.
- Bina 48 claims 'death is optional' through creating consciousness and self-replicating machines.
- The project includes a performative lecture, a feature-length film, and a Death Metal concert by Anoxide.
- Commissioned by the Stanley Picker Gallery.
Entities
Artists
- Oreet Ashery
- Akiya Henri
- Vanda Playford
- Martin O'Brien
- Dora Gordine
- Amy Winehouse
- Lee Lozano
- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Mary Shelley
Institutions
- Stanley Picker Gallery
- Dorich House
- Institute of Contemporary Arts London
- Lilith Performance Studio
- Charles Keene College
- Marks & Spencer
- R&K Wise
- Breakthrough Intelligence via Neural Architecture
- Goldsmiths, University of London
- Afterall
- Ocula
Locations
- London
- Swindon
- Leicester
- Malmo
- Sweden
- England
Sources
- Afterall —