Last updated on September 13th, 2023 at 02:41 pm
There is no shortage of fear and fascination when humans think of advanced artificial intelligence. AI research has caused concern amongst the scientific and technology communities, and films like Alex Garland’s Ex Machina have plumbed this fear cinematically.
On the new concept album The Uncanny Valley, electronic artist Perturbator explores an even darker side of AI and robotics—a post-war world where humans have fought and beat the machines. Unlike The Matrix, the machines—whose ranks include androids—suffer persecution. We get to see this in the new animated pixel art music video, “Sentient.”
The Uncanny Valley takes place 24 years after the finale of Perturbator’s previous album, Dangerous Days. Focus shifts from the invented world of Nocturne City to the future alleys of Tokyo following the conclusion of the War Against Machines. In Perturbator’s universe, every story is the viewer’s story.
In “Sentient,” directed by animator Valenberg, the viewer is a motorcycle helmet-clad vigilante known as the Night Driving Avenger. The video’s look is an amalgam of styles, from Blade Runner, to the horror films of Dario Argento, and Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. Despite wearing theses influences on its sleeves, Valenberg’s pixel art animation gives “Sentient” a distinct look and atmosphere.
Click here to see more of Valenberg’s work.
