Karl Orton
17 Sep - 17 Oct 2009
KARL ORTON
"The Jolly Smashing of the Uncanny"
Music by Stefan Winter
17.09. – 17.10.2009, Opening 17.09.2009 at 7 pm
Hermes und der Pfau is happy to an(de)nounce the exhibition “The Jolly Smashing of the Uncanny” by Karl Orton.
Karl Orton’s installation is uncertain in its aims of appropriation. Appropriation is the art world’s clever wording for “stealing” or “ripping-off”.
A soundtrack similar to an early Cronenberg film looms over the exhibition space; a cinematic, atmospheric sound, certainly resembling chords we have been watching, or should that, in this case, been listening to before. A solitary microphone stands alone in the exhibition space, suggesting the arrival, at some point, of a performer. Vladimir Mayakovsky’s “A Cloud in Trousers” makes a sudden appearance. Edited of its original futurist-political meaning, the text has been haphazardly homoeroticized and re-contextualized for the purpose of the artist. A video, mirroring the anti-action of the performer, makes a formalized gesture of connection. A further connection is created by the inclusion of two film stills. One depicts the dated cinematic convention of “THE END” while the other depicts the climatic crescendo of a falling petal. The “Fruit Machine”, appearing as a painting, makes a sly cameo.
Through the transformation of appropriated materials, Karl Orton destabilizes existing connotations and intentions.
Karl Orton was born in 1974 in Burton Upon Trent, United Kingdom. He studied at the University of Bristol in 1994, although he failed to complete his degree in Fine Art/Painting. From 2000 to 2003 he worked for the Maison Martin Margiela in Paris. Karl Orton studied at Frankfurt’s Staedelschule from 2004 to 2008 in the class of Michael Krebber. Orton has shown work internationally. He co-founded the exhibition space Ritter&Staiff (2005–2007), and is the recipient of the Hessische Kulturstiftung’s Rotterdam residency for 2010. Orton will open the contemporary art exhibition space ORTON.nl in Rotterdam in 2009.
"The Jolly Smashing of the Uncanny"
Music by Stefan Winter
17.09. – 17.10.2009, Opening 17.09.2009 at 7 pm
Hermes und der Pfau is happy to an(de)nounce the exhibition “The Jolly Smashing of the Uncanny” by Karl Orton.
Karl Orton’s installation is uncertain in its aims of appropriation. Appropriation is the art world’s clever wording for “stealing” or “ripping-off”.
A soundtrack similar to an early Cronenberg film looms over the exhibition space; a cinematic, atmospheric sound, certainly resembling chords we have been watching, or should that, in this case, been listening to before. A solitary microphone stands alone in the exhibition space, suggesting the arrival, at some point, of a performer. Vladimir Mayakovsky’s “A Cloud in Trousers” makes a sudden appearance. Edited of its original futurist-political meaning, the text has been haphazardly homoeroticized and re-contextualized for the purpose of the artist. A video, mirroring the anti-action of the performer, makes a formalized gesture of connection. A further connection is created by the inclusion of two film stills. One depicts the dated cinematic convention of “THE END” while the other depicts the climatic crescendo of a falling petal. The “Fruit Machine”, appearing as a painting, makes a sly cameo.
Through the transformation of appropriated materials, Karl Orton destabilizes existing connotations and intentions.
Karl Orton was born in 1974 in Burton Upon Trent, United Kingdom. He studied at the University of Bristol in 1994, although he failed to complete his degree in Fine Art/Painting. From 2000 to 2003 he worked for the Maison Martin Margiela in Paris. Karl Orton studied at Frankfurt’s Staedelschule from 2004 to 2008 in the class of Michael Krebber. Orton has shown work internationally. He co-founded the exhibition space Ritter&Staiff (2005–2007), and is the recipient of the Hessische Kulturstiftung’s Rotterdam residency for 2010. Orton will open the contemporary art exhibition space ORTON.nl in Rotterdam in 2009.