Operator: 2021 in review
2021 was a monumental year for Operator.
We presented a fashion collection through an interactive browser-based artwork at London Fashion Week, moved into creating a series of slow cinema Deepfakes in an EU funded project on misinformation, won a Lumen Prize for Art+Technology at the Barbican Centre, an ADC Gold Cube for fashion Innovation, received an honorary mention for the S+T+ARTS Prize, and spoke internationally at events spanning art, tech, and academia. Personally, last year included moving our home and studio to Berlin, and celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary.
I’d rather be in a dark silence than, Ti and Catherine’s signal blocking trenchcoat has continued to gain momentum. Following an exciting debut at Renaissance 2.0 2.0, an exhibition in Rome featuring works by Ai WeiWei, Hackatao, Sofia Crespo, and more, and its subsequent translation into an multimedia installation in Berlin in Dec 2020 it won 2 prestigious awards in 2021.
Awards
I’d rather be in a dark silence than - Gold Cube for Fashion Innovation at the 100th annual ADC Awards for the privacy-trench merging conceptual art, fashion, and function.
I’d rather be in a dark silence than - Lumen Prize for Immersive Environments — Awards ceremony at the Barbican Centre
On View - Honorary Mention for the S+T+ARTS Prize
Soft Evidence
Soft Evidence Ania and Dejha were selected to participate in MediaFutures, a Horizon 2020-funded research and innovation programme to tackle misinformation. Their synthetic media/deepfake project Soft Evidence won the Artists-for-Media track. They’ve since been invited to speak at MIT Open Documentary Lab as part of their programming around synthetic media, creativity, and satire, leading to the inclusion of Soft Evidence was included in their recently released report.
Still from Soft Evidence (2021)
Face-swapping process
Post-production session, Los Angeles
Automatiste
Automatiste a browser-based experiential artwork showcasing Mithridate’s AW21 collection at London Fashion Week. The piece weaves together performance art, interactive film, augmented reality, poetry, 3D, machine learning, AI, XR face filters, photography, sound, and experimental web design. “It feels like we’re creating a digital opera,” say the artists. It was featured by FAD Magazine, BBC Click, Harper’s Bazaar, Twin Magazine, and Telekom Electronic Beats Podcast.
"As one might expect from the critically acclaimed and award-winning art+tech duo, there is no shortage of ambitious and experimental tech going into this multifaceted work."
FAD Magazine
The Temple
Ti and Catherine were commissioned by LA & Berlin-based artist Little Ashes, who translated his song into an intimate film merging performance, music, and architecture. With a bare bones crew of simply Dejha filming and Ania performing, the piece was filmed in Mexico City in a home of renowned architect Javier Senosiain. The Temple is an official selection of the Video Art and Experimental Film Festival in NYC, InShadow Dance Film Festival in Lisbon, and Dance Camera West in Los Angeles, screening in 2022.
Ti and Catherine hosted the inaugural Operator Salon, which was part of the Crypto and Digital Art Fair (CADAF) in June. The Operator Salon is the conversation-focused arm of their art practice, and an homage to the salons held by Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas in Paris during the 1920s-30s. The first edition’s topics were Digital Fashion, New Art Infrastructures, and AI: Ethics and Dilemmas for Digital Art and the guest list did not disappoint.
You can watch the conversations here.
Press
Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti on the digital cover of SLEEK Magazine’s Power Issue (Dec 2021)
Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti on BBC Click demonstrating how to use Automatiste filters
Our works are large scale, complex, multifaceted, and require the support of partners, collaborators, friends, writers, curators, fans, and believers in the power of art—as a space not only for expression, but to be a mirror to society, and show us alternative ways forward.
Every person reading this has played some role in our journey from a passion project between lovers into a studio with a team, a mission, and a vision for asking big questions, pushing the limits of digital creativity, while breaking barriers for ourselves and others.
Thank you and we can’t wait to share what we have in store for 2022.
Ania & Dejha