2025
Premiered at Tribeca Immersive Film Festival (New York)
Exhibited at Reisig and Taylor Contemporary (Los Agneles), PAM (Los Angeles), New Images (Paris), Khoj (New Delhi), and Ars Electronica (Linz)
The Innocence of Unknowing investigates news media coverage of mass shootings in the United States since the 1960s. This immersive essay film - performed live by Ryat Yezbick, Milo Talwani, and the AI humanities scholar they built - takes viewers back in time to examine how we have arrived at the horrific reality of rampant gun violence in America today. Created from an archive of news media footage sourced by Yezbick, The Innocence of Unknowing examines our role as spectators of mass shootings while illustrating the history of the evolving media landscape — from TV to phones to social media — through which we make sense of the violence. This project is the first of its kind to examine our historical relationship to eyewitness news through the lens of AI.
Upcoming | Current
Lumen Prize Legacy Award Finalist
The Innocence of Unknowing at Ars Electronica
The Innocence of Unknowing at PAM
Recent
The Innocence of Unknowing Wins Ars Electronica New Animation Art Prize
Solo Exhibition at Reisig and Taylor Contemporary
The Innocence of Unknowing at New Images, Paris
The Innocence of Unknowing at Tribeca Film Festival (Immersive)
Workers Fleeing the Factory in MIMESIS Magazine
The Innocence of Unknowing at Khoj, New Dehli, in Are You Human?
grip at other others // rehearsals in the skin at Human Resources
Lumen Prize Legacy Award Finalist
The Innocence of Unknowing at Ars Electronica
The Innocence of Unknowing at PAM
Recent
The Innocence of Unknowing Wins Ars Electronica New Animation Art Prize
Solo Exhibition at Reisig and Taylor Contemporary
The Innocence of Unknowing at New Images, Paris
The Innocence of Unknowing at Tribeca Film Festival (Immersive)
Workers Fleeing the Factory in MIMESIS Magazine
The Innocence of Unknowing at Khoj, New Dehli, in Are You Human?
grip at other others // rehearsals in the skin at Human Resources
Contact: ryat.yezbick [at] gmail.com
Photography: Hagen Betzwieser, Keelan O’Hehir, Jessica Wittman, Panayiotis Tsangas, Cedric Tai, Eleni Maligoura, Zach Korol-Gold, Gabriel Sweet, Jen Gilomen
Copyright @2022 Ryat Yezbick. All rights reserved.