aptly presented as a proof of concept, main stream media network[1] can't be correctly described as simply a film, but moreso as a 150 minute recording of a TV broadcast channel which doesn't exist in the same dimension as ours. it's as if someone screenrecorded a cursed alien AI-made transmission - created to mock humans - and managed to upload it to the internet, but that still doesn't quite capture what's going on with MSM, as it is also very clearly the work of digital film-maker jon rafman, and his authorial mark is consistently felt throughout.
the show schedule of the MSM channel is busy and feverish, displaying a vast set of regular segments: Short Story 1 sees badly-animated photos of humans narrate absurd life stories; SlopTV presents AI video shorts that develop like creepypastas; RealTimeMusic is the demented counterpart of MTV, with recurring bands that are the bastardization of musical subcultures; Minor Daemon, the only AI-free feature, is an episodic series that follows monstrous kids in CGI animation and their endeavour in a weird cybersport.
it is clear that the work plays on the nostalgic quality of TV channels, already forgotten and surpassed by internet media, but it is also a regurgitation of current entertainment, like doomscrolling, youtube videos or reddit posts; it comes across as this weird anomalous hybrid, but it manages to be extremely captivating thanks to a very careful orchestration of content. the use of AI is essential to its artistic scope and not just a workaround; rafman uses AI to inspect its demented quality, to reach at its formless chaos that is so close and yet so different to the human one. the unnerving AI images and the sheer entertainment-first philospohy of its components make this feel like a perfect era-defining artifact, and an incredible cinematic object.
- [1]main stream media network - proof of concept — jonrafman.com↑