Limbo (2020/2021) by Rebecca Allen
Rebecca Allen is celebrated as one of the earliest pioneers of digital art. In 1979 she created Refs, one of the first examples of a 'gif-like' animation loop, and in 1981, as she continued her study of human motion, Allen created The Swimmer - the first ever example of a female 3D computer model in motion. These studies have led to Allen's most recent experiments using novel AI software to enable AI driven computer models to learn to move and be more like humans.
Limbo is a new work that reflects on the current state of humanity. We see a female figure wearing a hazmat suit and mask caught in a futile and endless loop - unable to make any real forward progress. The work acts as an analogy for how many of us feel in this moment of time - we are stuck in 'limbo' with Covid itself feeling like a perpetual trap. However, there is an optimism to the animation's continued loop of getting up and starting again, as we all must.
