Algorithms distort, dispense, define and destroy the value of a human being. The pandemic, which expanded and amplified the gig economy to new heights, shows just to what extent, as delivery drivers are pushed to defy the limits of time and space to meet the ever-growing demands of consumption and by and large, capitalism. As delivery drivers get subsumed in the rules and laws of algorithmic management, they lose their autonomy and consequently, their identity is reshaped. In “Delivery Dancer's Sphere,” director and digital artist Ayoung Kim dives deep into this disturbing ecosystem through dazzling imagery and mind-blowing transmutation of visual arts.
Delivery Dancer's Sphere is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
The film centers on Ernst Mo and En Storm (both an anagram for Monster), female riders working for a delivery company called Delivery Dancer. Ernst Mo is a ghost dancer, a categorization for those who are at the top echelon of the platform. As Seoul's space bends and transmogrifies, with the city's arteries turning and melding into criss-crossing roads and constantly shifting paths, Ernst Mo has to find a way to keep her ranking in the competitive platform economy. Delivery Dancer enables her to travel with the speed of light, but this comes at a cost: it makes her invisible. Invisibility in her industry puts her at the top of the game, but it also dehumanizes her as she becomes nothing but another tool in another venture which prioritizes profit over anything else.
As Seoul's alleys, bridges, shadows and skies transform into one big labyrinth, Ernst Mo finds herself suddenly grappling with the elements of nature, manmade technology and infrastructure, making it more challenging for her to test the boundaries of spatiality and temporality. Compounding this is the sudden emergence of En Storm, who only reminds her of their dispensability and vulnerability in the maze of motion and money.
Actress Seokyung Jang understands the connection between her characters Ernst Mo and En Storm. She displays just about enough mental and emotional disparity and dirge to show both their difference and oneness. She expresses the mindset of a person which has become a technical factotum and a product on its own through a journey of apprehension, agitation then acceptance.
Futuristic Seoul is a sight to behold with the adept editing, VFX, motion graphics and color grading of Kim, Hyunji Lee and Chae Yu. The three create a multiverse which both entraps and traps in its stunning and foreboding complexity. Sanghun Heo, Jaehwan Hwang, Kyounghyun Yoon, Jieun Kim, Hyebin Kim and B. Paul Sandoval Lopez created a riveting design and 3D animation which displays the trickery, treachery and soul of a living Seoul.
“Delivery Dancer's Sphere” is a film whose modern imagery serves as a social commentary on the perverse metrics brought about by an algorithm-centric economy and consequently, existence. It's a fantastical, fiery and frenetic captivation of Foucaultian theories, physics and philosophy. In a nutshell: it's one hell of an axiological ride in the age of blurred lines between technology and humanity.
