Show Notes
Growing up in a small seaside town just north of Liverpool, artist Brendan Dawes was always determined to make something of himself. Leaving school at 16 with no formal qualifications, he found himself propelled forward by the rise of revolutionary computer technology and a passion for Acid House. "The computer was like this amazing box where I could make creative things. I always wanted to make stuff in some form, back then it was music. But with computers, I thought, this is incredible. You could just type into it, and it would do things. It just spoke to me." (Brendan Dawes) A self-taught coder, Dawes developed a unique approach to his work, leading him to opportunities worldwide. In 2004, he created Cinema Redux, a pioneering work that transformed an entire film into a single visual and earned a place in the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) permanent collection in New York. Never one to stand still, Dawes became a key figure in the rise of NFTs, with Black Mamba’s Revenge, an abstract work based on the final fight scene in Kill Bill Vol.1, that sold at auction within the first hour of its release in 2020. This milestone marked a new evolution in his work leading him to collaborate with director Gary Hustwit, in 2024, on the groundbreaking documentary Eno, based on the extraordinary life of musician Brian Eno. The film, the first generative documentary ever shortlisted for an Academy Award, was hailed as a “revolutionary cinematic experience.” In February 2025, always at the center of creative disruption, Dawes took part in Christie’s inaugural AI art auction in New York, a controversial event that divided the art world. While some saw it as an inevitable evolution of artistic practice, others condemned it as a fraudulent attempt to profit from AI-generated works trained on artists’ intellectual property without consent. Always a true radical, Dawes continues to push the boundaries of contemporary art, seamlessly blending technology, data, and visual storytelling. Whether digital or physical, his work remains at the forefront of cultural upheaval, redefining what art can be in an era of constant transformation. - Follow us on Instagram @destroypunkpodcast for the latest updates. Or visit us online: https://destroypunkpodcast.com for transcripts, show notes, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Destroy! The Influence of Punk.
[Audio Update: We recently detected a brief audio glitch which we fixed on August 22, 2026. If you still hear the glitch or still have any audio issues with this episode, we suggest you delete the episode from your app and play or download it again. Alternatively, listen on another platform or logon through your account in a web browser. Thank you for listening.] — Punk became a visual system built for reproduction and circulation. This episode explores how its graphic language evolved into a shared tool for dissent. Record sleeves, posters, fanzines, typography, collage, and appropriated imagery created a visual vocabulary that could be copied, altered, and circulated far beyond its original context, and authorship became less important than transmission.
What happens when people stop performing the roles they’ve been assigned? Step outside the social guardrails. Take exception to the rules.
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