Watch the winning films from the Circa x Dazed Class of 2021

In May, Dazed teamed up with digital arts platform Circa to launch the Class of 2021 – a brand new initiative which invited young video artists from around the world to submit a two-and-a-half minute short film in response to the theme ‘Communion’, as set by interdisciplinary artist Angel Rose.

Now, 30 filmmakers have been selected as an official part of the Circa public art program. Each will see their work displayed on London’s Piccadilly Lights, Seoul’s Coex K-Pop Square, and at Tokyo’s Yunika Vision – starting today until the end of the month. You can also head over to the Circa YouTube channel to watch all the films in full.

As well as having their works shown on some of the world’s biggest screens, tne lucky finalist – chosen by performance artist Marina Abramović – will receive the #CIRCAECONOMY cash prize of £30k to help kick off their careers. The pot of money was generated through sales of CIRCA artists’ prints, including work by Patti Smith, Ai Weiwei, and David Hockney – with hopes of bringing the profits back to empower and support the winning finalist.

The winner will be chosen on October 14 during Frieze Art Fair in London, and will be presented with an award personally-crafted by artist Jermaine Gallacher. 

All films from the Dazed x Circa Class of 2021 are available to watch via the Circa YouTube channel. Or, take a look at a selection below.

ATHENA VLACHOS

Athena is a filmmaker who grew up in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, surrounded by wildlife and creativity for most of her upbringing. 

BART SENG WEN

Singapore born Bart Seng Wen’s practice spans across photography, moving image, literary nonfiction and performance. He is drawn to fetishism, queerness, contemporary appearance, and(post-)racial politics.

BEN CULLEN WILLIAMS

Ben Cullen Williams is a London based artist, whose practice consists of sculptures, installations, photography, and video. In his work, Williams explores humankind’s relationship to the world in a rapidly changing environment; he focuses on the intersection between space, technology, and landscape.

CHRISTINA ANAGNOSTOU

Christina Anagnostou is a multi-media artist based in London. Growing up in the internet age, the artist empties her mind on the table and lets the audience piece it back together. The use of rich visuals and oversaturated colours are fundamental to the aesthetic of the work, applied on sets, characters, costumes, and creative direction.

DIANE CESCUTTI

Diane Cescutti is a Franco-italiano-Cameroonian transmedia artist. Born and raised in France. She holds a bachelor and master in art practice from the Nantes School of Art in France. She tries to consider, through a speculative, fictional, and narrative approach, the new potentials of weaving and explore a thin interface between material world and virtual world. 

EDD CARR

Edd Carr is an artist and researcher from the North York Moors National Park, UK.Drawing upon his own experiences of childhood trauma, his work explores the societal anxieties and trauma surrounding the ecological crisis, and the Sixth Mass Extinction of life on Earth. 

EWELINA WEGIEL

Ewilina Weigel’s projects are long-term as she experiments with the subject, the archives, or her understanding in collaboration with the community. In her films, the main characters are not individuals but communities, dogs, mosses, insects, cut trees, buildings, and more.

FLAVIAN BERAR

Flavian Berar is a child of the 90s post-communist Romania. For the last 9 years he has been living in London, training at The Bartlett UCL in architecture, film and 3D animation. Within his work, time becomes the fourth dimension capable of unlocking new spatial and material realities that reconcile the qualities of the digital with those of the physical world.

HELIENA HAGOS

Heleina Hagos is a digital artist who creates experimental live animation and illustrations about the future of science. Recently, she has started to explore futuristic ideas and aesthetics.

HOA DUNG CLERGET

Born in France, Hoa Dung Clerget graduated from Royal College of Art in 2021. Recent shows include Grown up at Holland Park Church (2021), Deep Cut at Asylum Chapel (2021) and Snap Shot (2020) at Hockney Gallery.

HOGAN SCHIA

Hogan Schia is a multidisciplinary artist based in London. He recently completed his MFA at Ruskin School of Art as a scholarship recipient of Langaard Stiftelse Art Foundation and a winner of the Mansfield-Ruddock Prize. His practice is concerned with political and cultural adaptation and struggle with globalisation.

JOSH SPINDLER

Josh Spindler is an artist and RCA Visual communication graduate currently living in London. For the last ten years, he has been creating short form experimental moving image, exploring innovative ways we can experience documentary and essay film, through video and installation within live spaces.

JOSEPH WILSON

Joseph Wilson is a queer artist, activist, and drag performer based in east London. He has been documenting the people and places around him, amplifying their voices, and celebrating their stories through his art.

DANIELLE BRAITHWAIT SHIRLEY

Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley is an artist whose work explores the experience of being a Black trans person. With the desire to record the “history of Trans people both living and past”, their practice focuses on documenting the lives of Black trans people, intertwining lived experience with fiction to imaginatively retell trans stories.

BRIN SCHOELLKOPF

Vermont-born Brin Schoellkopf’s work is heavily influenced by the performing arts community. He’s toured internationally with Les 7 Doigts de la Main, a contemporary circus company based in Montreal. During the pandemic, he spent three months volunteering at Zip Zap, a social circus school in Cape Town.

CARLA FERNANDEZ 

Carla Fernández is a fashion designer and cultural historian whose work aims to highlight and preserve the rich textile heritage of Mexico’s indigenous communities. Combining her passion for beautiful clothing and a deep respect for the artisans and communities who produce traditional textiles, she heads an ethical and sustainable business that includes a fashion label and a mobile design studio.

GABRIEL MASSAN 

Gabriel Massan is a Brazilian-born digital artist based in Berlin. Their research explores the relationship between fictional existences and digital environments, with a particular focus on the representation of colour, identity, and time.

ALFIE WHITE

Dazed 100 winner Alfie White is based in south London. His work captures emotion and humanity in everyday life. Shooting mainly in black and white, White’s timeless aesthetic has all the attributes of early social documentary photography, with a modern twist.

KSENIA ILINA

Ksenia Ili is a Russian based video artist, a painter, and a performance practitioner.
She graduated with a BA in Textile design at The Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design in 2017, and finished the video art course at The Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia in 2021.

LUCY LOADER

Lucy Loader is an artist and graduate of the Royal College of Art with an MA in
Contemporary Art Practice Moving Image and a BA in Fine Art from Kingston School of Art. Their work specialises in moving image and installation, with a wish to create alternative ways of seeing bodies on screens, to a vision which is less binary, more multifaceted and complex. 

MICHAEL AND CHIYAN HO

Michael and Chiyan are an artist duo currently living and working in London. As second-generation immigrants from China, their work responds to the notions of cultural mismatch and subsequently cultural (re)discovery and identity. They take inspiration from our disparate experiences between two cultures, our Chinese heritage and our European upbringing. 

MILES GREENBERG

Miles Greenberg is a performance artist, sculptor and researcher of corporal movement based between New York. His practice centres around explorations of the body in space, pushing its limits through durational performance and sculptural form, with work consisting of large-scale sensorially-immersive environments which revolve around the physical body.

MOJMIR BURES

Born in Czech Republic, Mojmir Bures graduated with an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art, London in 2019, shortly after a BA course at FAMU in Prague and an Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture scholarship in Helsinki. 

NICOLÁS BARRERA MARTÍNEZ

Nicolás Barrera Martínez holds a MFA degree from Goldsmiths, where he was awarded the Santander Uk Scholarship. His work has been exhibited in countries such as Cuba, Spain, and the Netherlands. 

NING ZHOU

Ning Zhou is a queer artist born in 1996. Her work combines photography, moving images and sound. The works she produces are inspired by her personal history, dreams, and imagination. Exploring issues such as gender, relationships, and mental health. 

RHEA STORR

Rhea Storr is an artist filmmaker of Britis-Bahamian parentage who explores the representation of Black and mixed-race cultures. The gestures of Black women performing, masquerading as a site of protest, and Black bodies in rural spaces are ongoing themes in her work. 

SEULGI KANG

Seulgi Kang is a performance, video, installation artist born in South Korea, living and
working in London. Seulgi Kang’s work deals with breaking down the simplicity and complexity of the every day, which, as so fundamental and common or uncommon, can be overlooked. 

SUSU LAROCHE

Susu Laroche is an anagram of Chaos Lure Us and a multidisciplinary artist of Egyptian and French descent. She works with analogue film and photography, music, and drawing, and is most interested in performance of melodrama for the camera, ancient civilisations, and history.

WES VIZ

Wes Viz is an interdisciplinary artist based in London, UK. A veteran in animation, her
15-year career has spanned commercials, music videos, and stage visuals. Wes’ work explores how emerging technologies are shaping our personal identities and mental states and how the impending metaverse of virtual environments will change how we communicate. 

ZONGBO JIANG

Zongbo Jiang is a visual artist based in London. With a background in graphic and product design, his design philosophy has always been true to sculpting a narrative. He observes the collisions between aspects of daily life, focusing on social and environmental issues.