Dance Interrupted no 10
Video, 2023
About the artwork
“Dance Interrupted” is an ode to the poignant disruption felt when once-loved dance becomes a spectre of its former existence, ever-present yet agonisingly out of reach. Synchronising the corporeal and emotional turbulence endured by those living with chronic illness into a visual harmony that is at once mesmerising and shattering. Digital distortions fragment the dancers: the dissonant melodies and fractured beauty of interrupted dance echoing a silent scream.
Somewhere over the rainbow. A paradox where vibrant movement and mournful lamentation coexist in a life interrupted. An internal inferno of longing, passion, and smouldering pain among the embers of a past life—lost, yet ever cherished.
Between the vivid and the interrupted, a whispered refrain echoes: I miss dancing.
–The video loops, ending where it starts–
I miss dancing, having danced ballet and tap as a child and teenager. Loving social dancing. One of my favourite things to film was choreography, working closely with dancers, camera and choreographer.
Now, unable to be onset due to chronic illness, I spent months learning Deforum, experimenting and ‘breaking’ the settings to get an ‘interrupted’ effect in-cAImera (each video is a single output, no post visual fx). The videos in this series, including the visual ‘interruptions’, are created using a single text prompt, utilising settings within the program to run the dance and camera movements and visual dynamics.
Spending time layering AI music with reversed tracks and sound fx to tell an emotive story along with the images.
Created with Deform, Automatic 1111, Stable Diffusion, Resolve, Topaz Video AI
Music made by KEZIAI and Al, with love.
Sound FX CCO
Sound Design by KEZIAI
Prompted 2023
Music & Sound 2024
Al generated music by KEZIAI
Sound FX CCO
Sound Design by KEZIAI
Audio explanation
Listen to KEZIAI discuss this work.
Kezia, aka KEZIAI, is a intermedia artist bringing 25 years of experience as a director and photographer to the evolving world of AI.
Surreal and metaphorical her work bends reality, and transcends the limitations of chronic illness, pushing creative boundaries from bed. BFA majoring in Intermedia from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University, in the 90s.
Raised in New Zealand’s coastal village of Devonport, KEZIAI creates with a curious imagination and passion for crafting unique visuals with conceptual narratives. Her cinematic work has been featured at BAFTA-qualifying and OSCAR-accredited festivals, gaining recognition and awards, including Golds at the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival, D&AD, The One Show, and AWARD, as well as being a finalist at Cannes Lions.
Combining her silver screen sensibilities with AI, she now creates surreal scenes from bed, navigating chronic illness. As a commercials director KEZIA travelled the world, shooting for brands including HSBC, Mastercard and Cadbury, now, as KEZIAI, her artworks travel for her. Along with Fellowship, her artwork has been curated by: Claire Silver for ‘Homage to Brancusi’ exhibition in Romania and in NYC at Lume Studios, Superchief in ‘A Show of Hands’ at Crypto Art Seoul and Miami, Accelerate Art at MET AMS, Obscura, Transient Labs, Shillr, NFT NYC, and shown in Times Square, Rome and NZ.
Also, Kezia has documented her daily life through a self-portrait “Daily Photo”, since Artschool, 1997.