"The loop is the infinite repetition of a very short portion of an image... a Dantean 'contrappasso': we isolate an action and force the subjects to repeat it endlessly, unable to ever free themselves from the terrible, fascinating spell."
Epoch II | OKKULT Motion Pictures & The Giphoscope
THE CONCEPT
After investigating physical invisibility at nanometric scales, the research shifted to cultural invisibility. What becomes visible when we decide to curate the forgotten? OKKULT transforms the most ephemeral, marginal, and disposable format of digital culture (the GIF) into an intentional artwork. In this phase, the Anthropoperiphery manifests through time and medium: the human being is reduced to a fragment trapped in an endless algorithmic loop, while infinite digital reproduction is forced to become physical, heavy, mechanical matter.
SELECTED PROJECTS
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Excerpts by OKKULT Motion Pictures | Digital Archivalism (2012 - present)
The systematic recovery of forgotten footage from public archives (from early Lumière to 1950s educational films) and their transformation into aesthetic loops. An operation demonstrating that visibility is not a natural property of objects, but the result of an institutional and curatorial choice.​
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Official website: okkult.it
OKKULT Motion Pictures on Giphy: giphy.com/okkultmotionpictures
​The Giphoscope (2013 - present)
The world's first analog GIF player. A handcrafted mechanical device that solves a philosophical paradox: materializing digital ephemerality into a durable object. In the era of infinite and passive reproduction, the Giphoscope demands physical human intervention (the crank) to animate the image, subverting the dynamics of technological consumption.
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​Official website: www.giphoscope.com
​Talking GIFs (2015)
An experimental series fusing animated GIFs and hidden audio via PhonoPaper technology. Degraded and alienating voice messages (e.g., "I'm in a loop. Stop me please") emerge only by scanning the code, revealing the gap between the visual surface and the underlying algorithmic infrastructure.
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Read the article on Vice: www.vice.com/en/article/these-gifs-can-talk/
