Speaking of the cultural territory around deepfakes: this video of a walk around Manhattan in the rain is so high-resolution, its stabilization so strong, that it is as if we are ourselves playing, or at least watching, a video game of New York. We are reminded constantly that we are looking at pixels of reality. And of course, the world of this Manhattan is largely digital to begin with, what with all the massive video billboards defining the circumspect horizons of Time Square and its adjoining blocks. Throughout, there is sound, as high-resolution as the footage, the stereo spectrum rich with activity. There may be hybrids and electrics among the passing vehicles, but in the rain it doesn’t matter. The whir is a memory of catalytic masses. The rain is its own sort of pixel.
Video by Nomadic Ambience originally posted to YouTube.