Margarita Atabekova: Bunnies on a Trampoline

In its “Video of the Month” series, the Kunsthalle Dortmund presents current video works by international artists on a monthly basis

- selected by Inke Arns (Kunsthalle Dortmund) –

Bunnies on a Trampolinetells the story of a viral AI-generated video that was initially mistaken by many people for a real recording. The work explores how emotional bonds with artificially generated characters are formed, what collective reactions its unmasking triggers, and how the internet subsequently responds with new songs, images and artistic projects.

The video was created as part of a university course on web archiving. It explores the rise of Sora AI and the proliferation of AI-generated videos on the internet and reflects onreflects how artificially generated images and videos are changing our understanding of authenticity.

Visually, Bunnies on a Trampoline unfolds as a kind of internet fairy tale.

The opening line, “Once Upon an Internet”, draws on the language of classic fairy tales whilst also highlighting that even fleeting online phenomena can become part of our digital cultural memory.

(Text: Margarita Atabekova)

Margarita Atabekova is an emerging media artist who was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her interest in digital art developed whilst she was still at school, when she began exploring 3D design, digital illustration, video editing and animation.
Following the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she moved to Germany at the age of 16, where she continued her education.
After graduating with distinction from her Ukrainian school via distance learning, Margarita began her degree in Time-Based Media at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. There, she is currently studying media design, specialising in animation and video art.
In her work, Margarita Atabekova experiments with various forms of artistic expression, ranging from animation and graphic design to projects in the fields of interactive media and game design. Alongside her visual projects, she also devotes herself to literary writing, composing and publishing her own texts online, and is also trying her hand at voice acting.
At the start of her artistic career, Margarita is exploring the possibilities of storytelling through animation, text, and various forms of media art.