Simulation Hypothesis by Maxim Zhestkov at Unit London

20 June - 22 July 2023
Unit London

Unit London proudly presents Maxim Zhestkov’s debut solo exhibit, Simulation Hypothesis - a profound and immersive delve into the interconnection between artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and our human roots. Inspired by Noam Chomsky's thought-provoking literature, Zhestkov seeks to surpass the limitations of language by painting and creating art that explores originality and storytelling in novel ways.

Inspired by pre-historic cultures of cave art and ancient bas-reliefs, artist Zhestkov uses programming and software to create simulations that explore the visuality of a time before written language. By fusing machines and algorithms with Artificial Intelligence, he hopes to reshape the perception of AI from adversary to descendent of human consciousness. His current exhibit takes viewers on a conceptual journey through Clouds of Creation—a large-scale projection reenacting the Big Bang—and Dimensional Dreamscapes, which suggests that humanity’s desire to create, build, and alter the world is in harmony with primary cosmic energy.

Maxim Zhestkov presents his first solo show WAVES at London’s W1 Curates

On August 18, 2022, the first solo exhibition of digital artist Maxim Zhestkov, titled Waves, will illuminate every surface of London’s W1 Curates exhibition space — inside and out. With new work displayed across the facade’s 3 floors of screens and on every wall of the interior, Maxim will make his London debut via an immersive digital art experience in the commercial heart of the city.

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Waves meditates on its titular phenomena as the fundamental elements of change in digital and physical systems; waves merge, waves disrupt, and, if synchronized enough, they acquire system-shifting force. Cultural shifts, spiritual breakthroughs, and wi-fi connections can all be better understood as products of the interactions of waves. As physical and digital systems become less and less distinct, the ability to acknowledge similarities between the two can make our everyday thoughts more creative.

Maxim’s broader oeuvre is built on conceptual investigations of the building blocks of physical and digital worlds. Each work is an effort to transform a fundamental principle of creation into a rousing spectacle.

“It is fascinating how structures could be assembled by themselves,
following the basic underlying rules of our world. Any material, including living matter, forms using the
same set of rules, and I think that this is something that we take for granted, but it is truly astonishing
when you think about it.”

— Maxim Zhestkov

““[W1 Curates is] a public art platform dedicated to bridging the gap between digital art and the traditional art world. Maxim’s artwork lends itself so well to our space, and it’s an honour to share new work from a true pioneer of digital art who remains so passionate about
the potential of virtual worlds.”

— Mark Dale, founder of W1 Curates

Artist Statement

A wave— a disturbance of the established order — encompasses dynamics as an inherent part of our world. Waves bring the change, oscillations, and fluctuations, which spread across objects and connect them to entangled networks of all interrelated and continuous events. Inseparable from distortions, they are themselves messages that indicate transformations and shifts.
Waves are primary signals permeating the world and a universal language of nature that underlies both our biological and technological systems. By covering the world with webs of electromagnetic signals, we have expanded our neural systems and can now connect with others able to decipher the coded messages. Interfering and merging, waves change their nature and — when synchronized — grow and transform into a greater entity with the potential to generate a transformative flux.

Connecting particles into mighty flows, Waves is an examination of shifts of energy in complicated systems that lead to the inevitable transformation of those systems. Simulated by an algorithm, the world of this digital artwork is intentionally simplistic and therefore inextricably predictable. However, the rules and principles of this visual complexity are hidden from the viewer, much like the incomprehensible quantum phenomena that define the physical world.
The only thing certain about our world is that it is changing constantly. Nevertheless, eternal movement includes repetition, and transformation is cyclical. Between extremes of peaks, no path is linear, and every shift echoes across time.

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About the Artist

Maxim Zhestkov (b. 1985) is a digital artist based in London. He merges his studies in architecture, sculpture, motion graphics, color, and sound, to dramatize the intersection of the digital and the physical as a critical site for imagining the aesthetic possibilities and psychological implications of a “phygital” reality. Working as an independent designer, Maxim has worked with clients like Adidas, IKEA, BMW, Google, Playstation and Adobe and has been awarded with many industry awards: a Red Dot Award, D&AD, iF Design Award and the ADC Award.
Maxim Zhestkov’s work has been presented internationally in shows at major institutions, including Decentral Art Pavilion Venice (2022), Unit London (2021), Contemporary Istanbul (2021), MIT (2019), Modern Art Museum, Shanghai (2019), and the Hermitage Museum (2019). Maxim’s work has also shown at contemporary art festivals, such as Cosmoscow (2021), ART021 (2020), ArtBasel Miami (2019), and Ars Electronica Festival (2018).

About W1 Curates

W1 Curates is a public art platform located at the heart of London’s iconic Oxford Street. W1 Curates showcases works from some of the world’s most innovative visual artists. Using state-of-the-art technology, the exterior of the Flannels London Flagship store has been transformed into an extraordinary public exhibition of art with digital prowess and exceptional innovation. The venue consists of a three-story facade of screens and, as of August 2022, an all-new exhibition space consisting of a 400 square-metre immersive gallery space lined with 360 degrees of bespoke LED screens.
W1 Curates has displayed work from the likes of Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, Kaws, Shepard Fairey, Tyler Mitchell, David LaChapelle, Whisbe, Katherine Bernhardt, MrStarCity, David Bailey, Vhils, and many others. It has also collaborated with the likes of Gagosian, Sotheby’s, Saatchi Yates, Tate Modern, and Artsy. W1 Curates has also hosted Ravensbourne University London, NFT UK, Amplifier Art, and Graduate Fashion Week.

A new reality: Maxim Zhestkov for BMW

To celebrate the reveal of the new all-electric BMW i4, BMW invited Russian media artist Maxim Zhestkov to freely interpret the new vehicle, and create a series of digital artworks using the BMW i4 design and technology as his inspiration. The result is a series that is as mesmerising as it is unique.

“I started out studying traditional architecture, but somewhere down the road I came to realise that the 3D software we used for mapping and modelling had so much more potential. It felt like it was being used to create the final product or output, and then… the process was seen as over. It was very finite, and it just didn’t sit right with me. But then I saw that, in fact, the software, if I found a way to use it right, could become much more. It could be used to discover and experiment in ways that didn’t have a goal in itself. It could be the way itself; the means to explore .something new and unexpected.”

— Maxim Zhestkov

Zhestkov describes this realisation as a process of “personal and creative liberation.” By plugging into the ever-evolving and ever more advanced visualisation and rendering software he had available, he was able to explore spatiality, physics, visuals and mathematics in a way he hadn’t thought possible. He quickly became hooked.

Media.Work for SPACE10

Media Work studio run by Maxim Zhestkov has been commissioned by SPACE10 Lab to develop a set of scenes about the global climate stressors that captured the essence of each phenomena.

SPACE10 is a research and design lab, on a mission to create a better everyday life for people and the planet. 

Exploring societal, technological, and environmental shifts likely to influence people’s lives in the coming years, they wanted to visualize the different ways that climate crisis is manifesting itself, through climate stressors.

“To support their different projects and articles relating to the crisis, these visuals will then be used to highlight in a beautiful way, nature we all love and remember.

Our task was to create visualizations of three phenomena: wildfires, floods, and droughts. The focus was on how these processes unfold over time and, eventually, become massive forces that alter entire ecosystems.” - says Media Work

“Visually, we looked for the balance between aesthetically pleasing and alarming — we had to show the phenomena as something important that is happening here and now, although, not to create frightening catastrophic images that would leave the viewer hopeless.” - continues Media Work

Read more on Visual Research of this case study on Media.Work

Designing the Future by Media.Work

Media.Works Studio led by Maxim Zhestkov share their view on Designing the Future by delivering 3 conceptual forecasts for the near future

“For one of our weekly explorations, we divided in three teams that received the task to create a prototype of a physical object. It did not necessarily have to be in the realm of speculative design, yet some of the created items deal with experimental technologies, not seen in mass-produced products.”

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“The first object has the potential of being mass-produced — it is a lamp, in which light passes through layers of colorful materials that can be easily switched to anything else. This is an item which is supposed to be customized and which can change mood in the interior completely by simply changing the ‘lampshade’ — it can create shaped shadows with texts or images and mix different textures, being a playground for its user.”

“The second item that was born in our ‘lab’ is an air purifier and a flower pot at the same time. It creates perfect conditions for a plant that grows inside of it, in a glass shell, and uses this plant to clean the air.”

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“Our third item is the most future-oriented. It is a visual experiment about shoe soles that grow to adjust their shape for human feet. We created a series of abstract forms, which are examples of how this custom sole can morph to better support a foot and redistribute the pressure.”

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Jimmy Choo Diamond by Maxim Zhestkov's Studio "Media Work"

Another great example of how digital art can be applied to commercial industry is a video for Diamond Sneakers created by @Media.Work studio led by ultra-talented Maxim @Zhestkov

Even the work has been done in 2019 it is worth seeing and inspiring

Supernova - Art film by Maxim Zhestkov

Supernova is an experimental 4K art film directed and designed by Maxim Zhestkov and made in Zhestkov.Studio

“Everything around and inside us was conceived in a huge explosion of a star billions of years ago… and, probably, recycled from other matrices myriad times. In this eternal carousel of matter, particles gather, form complicated structures and then burst into all directions fusing atoms together and producing new elements and points of view, new colours and patterns of perception. “

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“Explosions could be perceived as a destructive force and the process of tearing previously formed matter apart and, therefore, could have negative connotations; however, fundamentally, only the process of breaking familiar structures and rearranging them into new, more sophisticated shapes could kindle new meanings and ideas and be the main creative force forming the future.”

The art film was initiated as the title sequence for @FITC 2019 / Amsterdam. 

Layers - Art Film by Maxim Zhestkov

“Layers is a 4K digital art film exploring the juxtaposition of the outside and inside. Computer-generated dark and brutal geometric monoliths are dissected by invisible 3D objects to reveal the layers of the colourful and emotionally vibrant inner structures. At the intersections of the shapes we encounter complex structures which could be perceived as 3D representations of objects within a 4D universe.”

— Maxim Zhestkov

After the previous art films’ foray into the territory of imaginary gallery spaces (Elements and Volumes), Maxim decided to push further and explore the possibilities of impossible sculptures as the main character for this project.

Maxim Zhestkov - Optics

Talented Russian media artist Maxim Zhestkov released his long-waited film "Optics". It's an experimental art film exploring the behavior of artificial light and color in digital environments. Blending architectural gallery space with computer-generated digital glass sculptures, we encounter animated refractions, chromatic aberrations, colourful reflection and other conditions which are impossible in reality. A series of tests and explorations guides us through different optical conditions of the bright and colorful digital universe.

The film was initiated as an experimental series of tests in Zhestkov.Studio. After some research, the studio realized that the beauty and visual power of these explorations could be transformed into an art film rather than remain a series of tests. For a couple of months, programmers and artists at Zhestkov.Studio developed different approaches and played with the infinite visual possibilities opened up by refractions and reflections with sound design by Marcelo Baldin.

Purchase Optics on Sedition Art Platform

“We developed over 1000 tools and principles of working with light and refractive/reflective surfaces. Coders wrote dozens of lines in Python to achieve some of the effects and behaviours of light. In the end, we produced some truly amazing results. Light and refraction, in reality, can behave only in one way in one condition, but in the digital world, where we don’t have real-world restrictions, we can animate every condition and step further into the understanding of light and colour”

— Zhestkov Studio

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Design and Direction - Maxim Zhestkov
Production - Zhestkov.Studio
Sound Design - Combustion.Studio

Maxim Zhestkov Launches on Sedition

Our friend and talented motion artist Maxim Zhestkov launches on our partners Digital Auction Platform Sedition Art

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Ahead of the launch of Maxim Zhestkov’s first digital edition on Sedition, Elements, this October 2017, they interviewed the visual and motion graphic artist from his studio in Russia to discuss his surreal animations, his approach to his own work and its subsequent reception.

Elements is an experimental video work by Maxim Zhestkov, which explores nature, physics, art and love through digitally animated ‘particles’ or ‘elements’. More than two billion particles, governed by tensions and forces influenced by those occurring in nature were used to replicate the motion of collective behaviour. As well as patterns of motion, the particles tell stories and evince emotional responses.

The film is a trial by the artist to explore the idea that everything around us and inside us is made from simple elements or blocks, which can be arranged in complex relationships and become compound structures. It demonstrates that there is a relationship between the tiny and individual, and the enormous and multiple. The ideas the work explores brings together emotions, behaviours, thought processes, relationships, life, planets and the universe.

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Elements by Maxim Zhestkov

Elements, an experimental art film by Maxim Zhestkov, follows more than two billion black and white spheres through a series of experiments within several enclosed spaces. Throughout the film the particles swarm through different white rooms, each labeled with subtle wall text that broadly defines the physics of each animation such as flow, diffusion, and pressure. Set to a score of hauntingly hollow tones, Elements is intended to express laws of nature and mathematics, visually representing the composition of particles found in each of us.

“The film is a trial to explore the idea that everything around us and inside us is made from simple elements or blocks which can be arranged in complex relationships and become compound structures. We could project this idea into emotions, behaviours, thought processes, relationships, life, planets and the universe.”

— Maxim Zhestkov

Perpetual Path by Maxim Zhestkov

Leading motion artist (and resident of our upcoming Digital Decade event) Maxim Zhestkov released a new short film called "Perpetual Path". As stated by artist the film is "about the dialogue and tension between nature and technology, sound and silence, organic and artificial. Inspired by the visual language of nature, architecture and technology, the film conveys a story about the inevitable transformation of old principles through the irresistible force of time."

Directed and Animated by Maxim Zhestkov / www.zhestkov.com

Sound by Marcelo Baldin / www.combusion.studio

Manifold, Corridor and Brainfeeder by Max Zhestkov

Russian motion artist Maxim Zhestkov just completed his new series of 360/VR environments ready to complete his upcoming short movie. Meanwhile experience the cold void of his digital art in VR below

Brainfeeder by zhestkov on Sketchfab

Manifold by zhestkov on Sketchfab

Corridor by zhestkov on Sketchfab

Sputnik - a short film by Maxim Zhestkov

The most obscure motion artist of Russia - Max Zhestkov (previously) disappeared from the scene few years ago to work on his own short films production. He did a small come back year ago with Jupiter II movie that he decided to put down and focused on the release of another masterpiece named "SPUTNIK". Enjoy it now!

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Some making of

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JUPITER II by Max Zhestkov

The most talented Russian motion designer and director Max Zhestkov came back (literally) with a HUGE short movie he has been doing for the last 2 years. Stop what are you doing now - watch this epic sci-fi movie "JUPITER II"!

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Max Zhestkov Reel 2012

One of the famous Russian motion designer Max Zhestkov released a new showreel of latest works! Must see on fullscreen

http://vimeo.com/44683468

Maxim Zhestkov for VIVA Channel

Super awesome Russian motion designer and forward thinking person Max Zhestkov released a new motion piece for German VIVA Channel, forming their rebranding in a new fresh way.

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