SCEPTRE
2026
David Stout
SCEPTRE - is one in a larger series of speculative video works utilizing generative AI to imagine visual objects, sculpture and installations that are plausible but often just beyond our current technological capacity to realize in material form. SCEPTRE carries layered meaning as it alludes to the Euro-phallic totemic objects that have granted royalty the right of rule and power down through the centuries. In this case the Sceptre is an activated source of generative power in the form of an autonomous audio-visual instrument. It emits electrical charges, receives and displays remote views of people and places of unknown origin, and in general, calls attention to its own self-importance as an aggressive mechanized noisemaker. The visual portion of the work consists of fifty-two 5 second video loops stitched together in a laborious editing process. The acousmatic score draws from field recordings, foley sounds, modular synthesis textures and VST soft synths.
