I AM ERROR presented at Gasworks, London and The De La Warr pavilion, Bexhill. The exhibition explores the construction of masculinity in action-adventure video games. Presented in an immersive cinematic environment, Bassam’s new CGI films confront the armouring of the male body in gaming culture by queering its military ethos from within.

The centrepiece is a 30-minute-long animation projected on to a large curved screen. It features a collection of cinematic sequences from an imaginary game in which the hero’s body is constantly in flux, undergoing metamorphoses as a result of his encounter with other lifeforms, whose physical touch makes him vulnerable to change, threatening his identity and selfhood. 

Combining fantasy erotica and body horror, Bassam’s films celebrate the hero’s growth and transformation in all its literalness, as his body sprouts and blends into its surroundings, among writhing flowers and tentacular creatures. The tactile, hyperrealistic quality of the footage contrasts with the immersive architecture of the film installation, which engulfs the viewer to induce a sense of disembodiment.  

The show is punctuated by digitally sculpted objects that explore the materiality of organic decay, extending the eerie atmosphere of the animations into the gallery space.