WELCOME TO 50:50
Around the release of the album i/o we held a competition giving creators the opportunity to produce videos for some of my music. The competition was designed to be a playful and rewarding activity and as the submissions came in I was completely blown away by the talent on display, as well as the quantity and diversity of the entries, and the hard work that went into them. It was hugely enjoyable to be part of.
Photography: Nadav Kander
That experience has led to some discussions about trying to find a way to continue to allow a greater engagement between visual creators and my music. We are doing some work in the background that we hope will help facilitate a more equitable relationship between music makers and visual creators, that acknowledges the joint role they play in the content seen on platforms such as YouTube.
With 50:50 we want to explore ways to better reflect this joint creative endeavour, and hopefully provide a showcase platform for the best visual work.
For now, you can see some of the great videos that came out of the relationships forged by the initial competition and we are inviting any other video makers or creators, who might want to learn more about 50:50 and how to become involved in the future, to sign up here to receive news as plans develop.
-Peter Gabriel
Latest videos
ARTIST: Peter Gabriel
CREATOR: Steven Askew
SONG: Washing of the Water (live) FROM Secret World Live
Video info:
The live version of Washing Of The Water from the Secret World tour has always been absolutely the definitive version of this song, for me.
The openness of the sound is deep and noble, and offers a profound and perfect hymn-like quality for the emotion of the lyrics.
This video piece features my wife, and was filmed on a remote beach on the west coast of Scotland, in a moment when stillness, reflection and healing were required.
Song info:
Washing of the Water is a track taken from Peter Gabriel's album Secret World Live, released in August 1994.
Words and music by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Peter Gabriel and Peter Walsh.
Published by Real World Music Ltd. / Sony Music Publishing.
“Secret World Live we were mixing to picture, so we had to make everything “look” right as well as sound good. There was not as much scope for enhancements, and if we did replace or repair anything, we had to be very accurate with the sync to picture. Mixing the Secret World Live show on the road for more than a year, in so many different settings, gave me a unique insight in to how best to represent Peter’s live experience in a recording. I had a very clear understanding of the mood and excitement I wanted to portray.” - Peter Walsh
ARTIST: Peter Gabriel
CREATOR: Addy Feuerstein
SONG: Here Comes the Flood FROM Peter Gabriel 1
Video info
I always loved this song. When I did some research on it, I read that: “Gabriel envisioned a scenario where the psychic barriers that safeguard one's thoughts would erode and thus manifest in a collective consciousness… he said that the lyrics pertained to the concept of a mental flood where the collective thoughts of other individuals would be made publicly available and accessible through telepathy. He posited that extroverted people would tolerate the situation but believed that those who wished to conceal their thoughts would be unable to adapt.” *
When I read this, I suddenly realized that Peter Gabriel had, in fact, predicted the internet back in 1977!
I mean, this is exactly what we live in now: a collective consciousness network, carried through our smartphones and computers. The psychic barriers that once safeguarded our thoughts are literally melting, and the collective thoughts of individuals are becoming public. We are constantly surrounded by a flood of information, and today’s AI developments are precisely the flood Gabriel envisioned. Only the extroverted can adapt, while those who wish to conceal themselves struggle to survive.
So, I set out to visualize this idea. I start with the concept of a “flood” of information, unfolding the video as an allegory for the digital age. At first, isolated people tune into radio signals that connect into a glowing network, symbolizing the birth of the internet. Soon, the promise of connection spirals into overload: streets flooded with glowing screens, exposed homes, and submerged televisions revealing our private lives on display. The tone shifts to cold analysis as human emotions and relationships are harvested, labeled, and quantified as data. Finally, it culminates in a vast museum of the human mind, where every memory and feeling has been indexed and archived by AI. Yet, like a new Noah’s Ark, humanity begins to build again from the wreckage, building new bridges among them, closing with Gabriel’s haunting reminder: “Wake up, dreamers, you’re running dry.”
The entire clip was created using AI tools:
Imaging: Midjourney
Image editing: Nano Banana, FLUX Kontext, Photoshop
Enhancing & upscaling: Magnific, Krea
Animation: Kling
Video editing: Premiere
* Wikipedia, “Here Comes the Flood (song)”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Comes_the_Flood_(song)
Song info:
Here Comes the Flood is a track taken from Peter Gabriel's first solo album, released inFebruary 1977.
Words and music by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Bob Ezrin for My Own Production Co Ltd.
Published by Real World Music Ltd. / Sony Music Publishing.
‘When I wrote this song I had an obsession with short-wave radio and I was always amazed at the way in which the radio signals would become stronger as daylight faded. I felt as if all energy levels would also increase in the night. I had a dream in which the barriers which normally prevent us from seeing into each other had been completely eroded, producing a mental flood of information. Those that had been used to having their innermost thoughts exposed would handle this torrent and those inclined to concealment would drown in it.’ - pg
Latest creators
I am a visual effects professional in the film industry and also a trained clinical hypnotherapist. I create these works digitally, using years of practical experience as a visual effects artist. My interest in human consciousness and trance states led me to study hypnotherapy. Combining these interests my work is focused on how visuals and sound can be used to affect the viewer’s mental state.
Steven is a writer and photographer working steadily in the north of England, alongside being a husband and father.
His written work has included pieces for various UK publications on a variety subjects including music and sport, and a few years ago he contributed to a marketing campaign for the David Bowie Is exhibition in Brooklyn.
He is interested in time and interconnectedness, and how small, personal moments travel within much wider existence. For his visual work he often uses static framed 'moving photographs', intended to be a quiet expression of that humility.
My name is Addy Feuerstein. I'm a tech entrepreneur, designer, and an AI artist.
After founding three tech startups, I founded UrbanOrigami.art - my creative studio, a place to focus purely on visual expression.
I am fascinated by the AI revolution and in a way, I feel like I have been waiting for it my whole life. As a visual artist, it allows me to 'paint with my brain' and create visuals that were not possible before.
Prof. Marc Engenhart is a designer, musician, artist and author. He worked on projects in the fields of applied communication design, interaction design, digital systems, speculative critical design, transmedia, media arts, performative arts and music.
Since 2014 co-founder of Playtime Album Sessions and 2019, founder of the critical speculative design futuring blog The Unthinkable Hub and founder of the Designing with Artificial Intelligence (dai) conference. 2022 co-author of the publication of the first standard work ‘Design and Artificial Intelligence’ at DeGruyter/Birkhäuser, Basel/Boston. Works and lives in Stuttgart and Berlin.
Dave is a double Cannes Gold Awarded Creative Director and Screenwriter with over 20 years’ experience working with some of the world’s most iconic brands and creative agencies.
He has both a Writer and Art Director background and loves to create bold, disruptive work that moves people. His approach is strategically rigorous, conceptually driven, and executionally arresting. He now brings all of this insight and know-how to Generative AI.
Del Bey (M.Ed., MFA, BFA) is an artist and arts educator, exploring emotionally provocative and socially relevant images at the intersection of photography, video art, and augmented reality experiences, merging visual textures, photography, and digital technologies to weave a digital tapestry of personal visual expressions.
ARTIST: Peter Gabriel
CREATOR: David Aughenbaugh
SONG: Of These, Hope / Lazarus Raised FROM Passion
ARTIST: Peter Gabriel
CREATOR: David Aughenbaugh
SONG: Of These, Hope / Lazarus Raised FROM Passion
Video info
This animation is an infinite zoom experience, designed to have specific effects on the mental state of the viewer. After a few minutes watching, the viewer’s thinking mind is quieted and the viewer settles into a pleasant flow state, characterised by quiet focus and enhanced creativity. The viewer is relaxed but alert with enhanced mental functioning.
I chose tracks without lyrics, so that the thinking parts of the brain are not engaged and are allowed to go quiet. These tracks from Passion - Music for The Last Temptation of Christ feel both purposeful and forward-moving, but also mysterious and a little bit magical–perfect for these visuals! The piece is over five minutes long and I find that when I get to the end I want it to keep going. Maybe I will do a longer version!
Song info:
Of These, Hope and Lazarus Raised are tracks taken from Peter Gabriel's album Passion, released in 1989. The album was the first release on the newly formed Real World Records.
Written by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Peter Gabriel
Published by Real World Music Ltd. / Sony Music Publishing.