For those who grew up with Commodore64 and Atari or playing arcade games, like Galaga or Stargate, Raquel Meyers’s (b. 1977) 8-bit animation Inattention evokes nostalgia. For those growing up at a later date, Inattention might be plainly referred to as “retro” due to its low graphic aesthetic. While this teletext-based animation might provoke feelings of nostalgia, the piece should not be mistaken as simply recreating or regenerating the past using antiquated technology. Instead, Meyers’s works, such as Inattention, demonstrate a sustained attraction to outmoded forms of technology and questions how these technological aesthetics can still play an important role in contemporary experimental digital animation alongside newer and more technically advanced models.

Looking closer, Inattention’s storyline is crafted as a pixelated montage that playfully combines old and new tech. The animation is set at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Inattention begins by panning a large skyscraper. At first, the skyscraper is almost unrecognizable due to the 8-bit blocked shapes. Early graphical capabilities in older technology consisted of simple geometry such as dots, lines or blocks that would occupy only a single screen. These shapes give the skyscraper and the rest of the animation a brutalist geometric appearance. As Inattention continues, the top of the city tower comes into view and emits a signal. A bright light flashes in various colors in the sky. These colors stand in contrast to the rest of the animation that is in black and white. The flashing light induces a feeling of alarm or urgency. It illustrates the invisible messages transmitting from our phones and cell towers— a clear comment about the persistent presence of technology in our everyday lives. Later this flashing light turns into a geometric orb with criss crossing lines. The use of bright color and innovative linework breaks any notion that the piece is simply recreating an older aesthetic.

After panning the skyscraper and cityscape, the animation quickly cuts to a character lying on a couch and then another smoking a cigarette as the sky flashes bright colors above them, setting the cynical tone that is frequently present in Meyer’s work. The storyline follows characters in relation to the events of the pandemic hypnotized by the influx of alarming headlines on her phone about the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus. There are closeups of faces, hands holding phones and eyes looking at screens. The viewer is able to see the text of news headlines on the screens, but they are barely legible because of the speed in which they are scrolling by. These headlines are another distinct feature in Meyers’s piece that breaks with an authentic use of early technological programs because the frame rate is faster compared to the strikingly low frame rate throughout the rest of the animation.

While many newer computer programs can imitate the aesthetics of older technology, Meyers is not interested in imitation. On the other hand, she is not interested in pure recreation either. Meyers personally didn’t grow up with these tools and feels their importance lies beyond nostalgia— as she explains in one interview, “I am not a purist, I am a blender.”[1] Her process involves the use of older computer programs such as PETSCII (the ASCII for the Commodore

64) to create her pieces. This process involves typing characters and symbols on the keyboard and greatly changed the way Raquel approaches her work[1]. She describes that as a result of using PETSCII, “the way of thinking and imaging changes completely, there are no pixels or blocks anymore, only the characters set, and I don’t really need anything else. It’s really direct, since you have all the symbols directly on the keyboard.”[2] Meyers then mixes these older processes with more contemporary programs like Adobe’s Flash. Meyers approach to technological tools is one of continuous relearning and experimentation. For Meyer’s these tools are a means, not an end.

Despite its title, Inattention actively captures our attention beyond the nostalgia for a bygone era because of its experimental use of old and new technology.