Lo-Def Film Factory (SA) x WORM: Unmaking the Model
With Unmaking the Model, WORM and Lo-Def Film Factory explore the intersections of colonialism, ecological destruction, and digital technology, with a focus on artificial intelligence. The project examines how traditional computational and scientific models are often based on extractive frameworks that fail to consider marginalised groups and ecological complexity.
This year-long project runs concurrently at Lo-Def Film Factory (Cape Town, SA) and WORM (Rotterdam, NL), following an open call from the Creative Industries Fund NL on the theme of Climate Justice.
We employ collective study sessions, archival research, workshops, artistic interventions, and film-making as methods to deepen our exploration of the project’s central themes. Later in 2025, physical exchanges will take place between artists from Cape Town and Rotterdam.
One of the artists from WORM’s side is Roxette Capriles, whose work will contribute to the evolving dialogue of this collaboration. We look forward to our first meeting this week and plan to share more about their approach in a future update.
More about the Climate Justice theme
The consequences of climate change are not distributed equitably. Those most affected are often those who have contributed least to its causes and to the economic and political systems that underpin them. This form of climate injustice manifests in various ways, including the control and distribution of environmental burdens, benefits, and resources—from the local to the global—and in disparities over whose ideas, knowledge, and needs are acknowledged and addressed.
Climate justice is not only a social, economic, and political issue but also a matter of design. It affects how cities are shaped and how access to essential services such as housing, clean air, and water is determined within them. It also concerns the governance of access to materials and resources, and the transition to ‘clean’ technology and energy. Climate injustice is thus inextricably linked to other forms of injustice, such as those involving labour and migration, among others.
More about Lo-Def Film Factory
The Lo-Def Film Factory is a participatory, community-based art initiative created by Francois Knoetze and Amy Louise Wilson.
Based in South Africa, their work incorporates archival research, dramaturgy, and visual strategies associated with video art, collage, sculptural installation, virtual reality, and emerging media. Through an experimental praxis that emphasises co-creation and the value of mistake-making, the initiative seeks to carve out space for storytelling through video and new media. It prioritises the exchange of ideas and experiences over high production values.
Their work has previously been shown in the Netherlands at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), and their practice continues to resonate in global platforms, including a feature on WeTransfer’s WePresent. Visit their YouTube channel to explore more of their work.
