Transistor is celebrating its 10-year anniversary today, May 20, 2024. Below, we recall how its vision of the future was more prescient than we’d realized at first glance.
In 2014, a singer having her voice captured and digitized against her will was a novel sci-fi conceit. Ten years later, it sounds eerily familiar. With the ever-increasing presence of AI and deep fakes, as well as digital homogenization all around us, Transistor’s tale of payback against the Camerata doubles back as a prescient artistic rebellion.
Designers, journalists, and painters were all targeted by the elite group one by one. The Camerata methodically ripped the city of Cloudbank of not just key citizens, but also character and grace. As protagonist Red cruises through the fading streets of Cloudbank, she witnesses how her surroundings lose color, progressively matching the Camerata’s attire. Yet, despite the odds, Transistor reminds us of the importance of latching onto mundanity, and what represents us.