People Like Us

Sampling as folklore, bridging the gap between art and entertainment: with densely interwoven collages and fractured narratives, The Library of Babel embarks on a dreamlike journey through cinema and sound, where the actors are set adrift from their story, left with pure experience. The title is inspired by a 1941 Jorge Luis Borges short story that explores the complex interplay of infinity, knowledge, and the cosmic fabric, presented through the metaphor of a vast, seemingly infinite library that has no purpose or intentions. Working with the related idea of a digital library, multimedia artist Vicki Bennett behind People Like Us performs live as a DJ: she recombines and reconfigures the images on screen with sounds that are often already ingrained in the audience’s collective consciousness due to previous associations. People Like Us presents us with a haunting, immersive experience but also aims for a democratising and unexpected rendering of what we thought was familiar.

Video editing, musical compositions, performance: Vicki Bennett | Video compositing: Peter Knight
Musical compositions: Ergo Phizmiz | Musical compositions: Lottie Bowater | Arts Council England