The digital artist is defying tradition and convention with his AI-blended cultural mashups. After the release of his first feature film, created entirely on AI: Everything is a Remix, Clarke sat down with GATA to discuss the essence of art and the future of AI within the movie industry.

UK artist Connor Clarke is one of the most radical figures in the realm of AI art, blending twisted humour with bizarre, hallucinatory visuals that push the limits of imagination. His work predominantly consists of mangled short-form videos, delivering a truly unique experience. With visuals lasting mere fractions of a second, the result is an epileptic torrent of satirical content. For those with a weak stomach, beware—these videos are not for the faint-hearted.

In early 2025, Clarke unveiled his most ambitious project to date: a full-length film created entirely with AI. The result is a perplexing, kaleidoscopic fusion of current world events, childhood cartoon memories, and distorted pop culture. It offers both a vision of the future and a glimpse into the videos of tomorrow. As AI lowers the barrier to entry—enabling anyone with a computer to generate videos—Clarke’s work poses a critical question: how do we distinguish art from the endless sea of digital noise? This question lies at the heart of Clarke’s creative exploration.

GATA: Hi Connor! You recently just released your debut film; how do you feel?

Clarke: I feel proud of it. It captured a period of my life and mind that I and others will be able to look back on. I still hope to get more screenings for it and hopefully get it in a few festivals, but at least it's out there.

GATA: What made you want to create a film of this length?

Clarke: These just started off as videos I’d make for fun based on ideas I had. Then I compiled them into half-hour visual albums, and by the second, I knew I could make more and tie it all together into one feature-length piece. Neil Cicierega making full albums out of his mashups was probably the biggest inspiration for still presenting this all in a classic format.

GATA: What was the process like for creating a piece like this? Was it very different from the usual videos that you would make?

Clarke: The biggest difference is having full control over the sound, visuals and everything else. No directions to follow but my own and those that appeal to me. The technicalities are still similar, but the execution and concepts are different enough from how I approach music videos.

It just starts as a seed of an idea, then develops, and you get the idea; it’s the same as what you’ve probably heard a million of your favourite artists say about their process, I just use different tools and come to different conclusions. If you wanna know more about that process I have an outdated workshop on my channel where I break it down and a new one coming soon.

GATA: Was there a message that you wanted to convey with this film?

Clarke: I think the overall message in my work is pretty much always the same. It’s all there in the film’s title and applies to everything I do and everything you and everyone reading this does. This film is just me trying to express that and all that it means and encompasses in the way that most appeals to me and my sensibilities. When you get that, understanding the rest and all the layers should be easier. I don’t like to spell everything out, but I’m sure some people understand what I’m getting at.

GATA: There are so many weird and bizarre recurring characters that keep popping up in your work. Do you have any personal favourites?

Clarke: Many, I actually plan to make a whole show based around them which I am working on right now. I’ll have more to say about this in future but I envision it to be like a mix of Family Guy, Drawn Together, Smiling Friends and Jamster commercials.

GATA: Why have you settled on the use of AI as a tool?

Clarke: Because AI is the closest thing, we have to be able to instantly tap into the collective consciousness and pull something out of it that you can remix into whatever you desire, which is how imagination works.

If more people realised that and realised that EVERYTHING’S A REMIX, the world would be very different. When you have an idea, you’re pulling from the ideas and creations of everyone who came before you, much like AI inherently does, and making a fusion of the two based on what you desire. It’s like having a lucid dream where your intentions dictate what you get. Let me break it down like this. Five Starcle Men—Teen Texas Concert. The opener to the film. That video took over a year to make. It was weeks of stream of consciousness listening to the song on repeat and envisioning scenes for each sound. I’d then batch-make visuals with the AI based on those ideas and pick the ones that most closely resembled what I’d imagined.

Sometimes, this would take many attempts, but the results would be so shockingly similar to my mind. This wouldn’t be the same were these 3D animated or hand drawn or in any other medium. With this, it’s give and take, no time to change your mind. It’s going with a gut feeling/vision and then matching that as close as possible.

GATA: The audio of the film is pretty out of this world; what was the sound design process like?

Clarke: Basically again as the title says, just remixing and mashing relevant audio to the theme or whatever I wanted to say in the piece. Big inspiration from my friend at Team Mekano and of course Neil Cicierega and his amazing mashup albums. Music is very important though, it’s usually how the basis for all of these ideas starts for me, so it’s key to get it right and have the same psych feeling as the visuals. Something magic happens and stuff becomes more real when sound and visuals match.

GATA: How do you envision AI developing in relation to mainstream films? Could we ever see an AI blockbuster?

Clarke: Definitely. It’s inevitable and it’s inevitable that the vast majority of them will suck and be awful for a while. The issue isn’t AI itself, it’s the people who use it and what they make. When the barrier for entry is so low you’re bound to get people who have nothing to say making art that feels the same.

People say this often about my work because that’s just what they view all AI to be like. It is so ignorant. I expect this to change in time though when more and more artists with an actual vision and message utilise it. It’s still crazy to me that more haven’t yet and that I’m even the one to have to say this. I could go on with this but I’ve had this conversation a lot and know I will be having it a lot more going forward.

GATA: Here at GATA we absolutely love cinema; what are some of your favourite films?

Clarke: It’s probably no surprise, but I love comedies with good soundtracks above everything else. Specifically late 90’s-early 2000’s comedies. Nothing hits like those do for me. Of course, there’s a lot more too and different genres and directors I could mention but you can probably already imagine what they would be. Early 2000’s comedies though…They need more love and I’ve been thinking about maybe starting a channel to cover those too. I don’t know, we’ll see. Maybe in a few years, I’ll do an American Pie remake with all my characters :P