REBECCA SHAPASS // Sudden Occlusion, 2024
Archivo LAB 2024
Limited Print Edition
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REBECCA SHAPASS
Still from the series Sudden Occlusion
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Inkjet print on 100% Cotton Rag Fine Art Paper
From an edition of 50, numbered on the reverse
Image size: 15 x 27 cm
Paper size: 24 x 30 cm
Unframed
This print edition was produced in 2024 as part of ARCHIVO’s competitive visual arts program Archivo LAB, and it is one of 50 prints in this limited edition. Proceeds from the purchase of this print will help fund future Archivo LAB programs, supporting emerging artists and innovative visual arts projects.
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About this work
”Sudden Occlusion" is a 360° VR cinematic experience crafted from a dataset of images of Pittsburgh streets collected by the now-defunct autonomous driving company Argo AI. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, this project places the viewer within the neural network of an autonomous vehicle, offering a perspective on the car’s “mind” as it navigates a desolate cityscape devoid of its former inhabitants. Inspired by Pittsburgh’s transformation into a robotics hub and its historical role in autonomous systems development, the project reflects on the city’s industrial past in mining and steel-working. "sudden occlusion" draws parallels between data mining by autonomous vehicle companies and extractive capitalism, tackling contemporary issues like artificial intelligence, labor, and surveillance.
About Rebecca Shapass
Rebecca Shapass is a filmmaker and artist investigating documentary form and archival practice. Her work has been exhibited and screened with institutions and festivals including Microscope Gallery (NYC), B3 Festival of the Moving Image (Frankfurt), Antimatter [media art] Festival (Canada), amongst others. In 2023, she was granted a Creative Development Award from the Heinz Endowment (Pittsburgh). She holds an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University and BFA from New York University.
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Archivo LAB 2024, themed "Archivo and Conflict", delved into the relationship between photography, the archive and conflict across different temporalities. Throughout the LAB programme, mentored by curator Helen Starr, artists explored the materialities and immaterialities of archival production within the digital age in regard to contemporary critical appropriations concerned with different perspectives on conflict, as well as history’s repressed events and violations.
