Bob Bicknell-Knight’s video work I Wish I’d Been Born a Balloon centres on the life of a nano drone, a tiny unmanned aerial vehicle that is primarily used in military operations. Throughout the video, the device reflects on its own existence and laments its primary purpose, wishing to be played with rather than deployed in combat zones, and speaks about the history of drones in relation to various wars. The work utilises footage captured from within the world of the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V, widely renowned as one of the most accurate digital simulations of the physical world.
Bob Bicknell-Knight (b. 1996, Ipswich, UK) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and writer, working primarily in digital media, sculpture, video, painting and installation. His work is influenced by surveillance capitalism and responds to the hyper consumerism of the internet, exploring ideas surrounding the automation of work, global power structures and technocratic authoritarianism, as well as critically examining contemporary technologies. He is also the director of the online platform isthisit?. Selected solo and duo exhibitions include Digging History at INDUSTRA, Brno, Czech Republic (2021); Eat The Rich at Galerie Sono, Paris (2021); It's Always Day One at Office Impart, Berlin (2021); Bit Rot at Broadway Gallery, Letchworth (2020); The Big Four, duo show at Harlesden High Street, London (2019); Wellness, Ltd., duo show at Galerie Manque, New York (2019); State of Affairs at Salon 75, Copenhagen (2019); CACOTOPIA 02 at Annka Kultys, London (2018) and Sunrise Prelude at Dollspace, London (2017).
