https://soundcloud.com/johnrobinbold/sets/playlist
2022
SoundCloud Gazing: PLAYLIST takes SoundCloud’s playlist feature to a liminal extreme by aligning the highest possible number of tracks (500) of the shortest possible duration each (around 50ms). Due to this shortness, the buffering between the tracks becomes noticeable as the silence in-between the sounds. Because these buffering times depend on the internet connection, the server and other unstable factors, the playback speed varies accordingly: SoundCloud itself “determines” the speed and rhythm of each rendition, or, in other words the conditions of online music streaming become themselves noticeable in sudden glitches and tempo changes. Each track is equipped with an individual image, which by the unusually fast playback then turn into a “low frame-rate film” akin to a digital flip book. The images are based on three different sources: a video shot by a camera falling from the sky, screenshots of SoundCloud’s interface and AI generated images reinterpreting the website’s visual appearance. Together they form a metaphor for the fragile relationships between speed, perception and technological malfunction. PLAYLIST changes radically with each playback and according to the device and app used (browser or SoundCloud app).
John-Robin Bold
Germany
John-Robin Bold beliefs that our perception has changed beyond recognition through digital consumption on the internet. But he also beliefs in art as a human necessity. What follows is the search for new forms and formats that art must undergo if it is to remain meaningful. To this aim he works with music, digital media, internet platforms and installation. His first solo show was presented at /rosa (Berlin) in 2022. He lives and works in Manchester, UK.