highlike

OLI SORENSON

video pistoletto

fobras FILE 2015

source: fileorgbr

Abstract:
A última série de remixes de Oli Sorenson é diretamente inspirada nos célebres espelhos estilhaçados de Michelangelo Pistoletto (1933). Ao quebrar monitores de vídeo de maneira semelhante, Sorenson exibe “Video Pistoletto” pela primeira vez em São Paulo, no Festival FILE. As performances do “Video Pistoletto”, que estreou em dezembro de 2014 na galeria POPOP (edifício Belgo, Montreal), acontecem ao vivo. Nelas, grandes telas de LCD são perfuradas e os vidros são rachados, de forma que os cristais líquidos se dispersam pelos fragmentos e passam a ideia de formas orgânicas presas sob de caixas de luz.
Ao revisitar a visão iconoclasta de Pistoletto sobre o vanitas com o uso da mídia digital, Sorenson tenta reavaliar a materialidade da arte, assim como seu potencial para gerar novas imagens, mas através da destruição de seus componentes. A série “Video Pistoletto” nos confronta com um paradoxo: uma ação absurda forjada no mesmo surto implacável de obsolescência e desperdício com que a mídia consumista atual nos alimenta sem cessar.
Biography:
Nascido em Los Angeles, Oli Sorenson morou e trabalhou em Londres (Reino Unido) entre 1999 e 2010 para juntar VJing a mostras de arte e trabalho de curadoria (incluindo vários eventos no Tate Britain, no Institute of Contemporary Art e no British Film Institute). Sorenson fez exposições no Museu Millennium (Pequim), no Media Art Institute (Amsterdam), no ZKM (Karlsruhe), na DokFest (Kassel), entre outros. Ele se apresenta regularmente em festivais de mídia como o ISEA (Helsinki e Nagoya), o Mapping Festival (Genebra) e o MAF (Bangkok). Ele está em Montreal, Canadá, desde 2010, escrevendo seu PhD sobre a cultura do remix.
Sorensen, sob o pseudônimo de “VJ Anyone”, deu início à sua carreira artística subvertendo ideias preconcebidas de originalidade e identidade em seu trabalho digital e performático. Simultaneamente à sua produção em estúdio, ele também colaborou com inúmeras bandas, como: Leftfield, MIA, Block Party, Talvin Singh, entre outras. Listado como um dos dez melhores VJs entre 2003 e 2008 pela DJ Magazine (Reino Unido), Sorenson descreve seu enfoque como o de um artista de remix: “Eu faço arte da mesma forma que um DJ faz música”.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
source: fileorgbr

Abstract:
The latest of Oli Sorenson’s remix series is directly inspired by Michelangelo Pistoletto’s (1933) celebrated shattering of large mirrors. Now breaking video monitors in a similar fashion, Sorenson is showing “Video Pistoletto” for the first time in São Paulo at FILE Festival. Premiered in December 2014 at POPOP gallery (Belgo Building, Montreal), the “Video Pistoletto” performances are presented in front of live audiences, to puncture large scale LCD video screens and produce cracks on the glass surfaces, so the liquid crystals splash within the fragments and give the impression of organic forms trapped under light boxes.
By revisiting Pistoletto’s iconoclastic take on vanitas while using digital media, Sorenson attempts to reassess art’s materiality as well as its potential to generate new imagery, but from the destruction of its components. The “Video Pistoletto” series confronts us with a paradoxal twist, an absurd action forged in the same relentless flight of obsolescence and waste as our current consumerist media feeding frenzy.
Biography:
Born in Los Angeles, Oli Sorenson lived and worked in London (UK) between 1999 and 2010, to combine VJing, art shows and curatorial work (including several events at Tate Britain, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the British Film Institute). Sorenson has exhibited at the Millennium Museum (Beijing), the Media Art Institute (Amsterdam), ZKM (Karlsruhe) DokFest (Kassel) and more. He performs regularly in media festivals such as ISEA (Helsinki and Nagoya), Mapping Festival (Geneva) and MAF (Bangkok). He is now based in Montreal, Canada, since 2010 to write a PhD thesis on remix culture.
Sorenson started his artistic career by subverting preconceptions of originality and identity in his digital and performance work, initially recognized under the moniker “VJ Anyone” and collaborated with numerous bands such as Leftfield, MIA, Block Party, Talvin Singh and more, simultaneously to his studio production. Listed within the world’s top ten VJs between 2003 and 2008 by DJ Magazine (UK), Sorenson best describes his approach as that of a remix artist: “I produce art as a DJ produces music.”
source: olisorenson

Born in Los Angeles, Oli Sorenson has lived and worked in London (UK) between 1999 and 2010, to combine his artistic activities with curatorial work (including several events at Tate Britain, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the British Film Institute). Sorenson has often exhibited internationally, including at the Millennium Museum (Beijing), the Media Art Institute (Amsterdam), ZKM (Karlsruhe) and DokFest (Kassel). He performs regularly in media festivals such as ISEA (Helsinki and Nagoya), Mapping Festival (Geneva) and MAF (Bangkok). He is now based in Montreal, Canada since 2010.

Sorenson started his artistic career by subverting preconceptions of originality and identity in his digital and performance works, which quickly caught the attention of youth culture related events. He thus shot to international acclaim under the moniker “VJ Anyone” and collaborated with numerous bands such as Leftfield, MIA, Block Party, Talvin Singh and more, simultaneously to his studio production. Recognized as one of the world’s top ten VJs between 2003 and 2008 by DJ Magazine (UK), Sorenson describes his approach as that of a remix artist: “I produce art as a DJ produces music.”

This venture into the VJ world informed his gallery-based projects, particularly in regards to digital production. He is fascinated by the overabundance of online content, which he thinks refrains creators from producing anymore new or original works and instead promotes the practices of sampling and sharing. In a similar way that pre-modern oral traditions endorse artists to revisit previous masterpieces, Sorenson often redirects the work of established contemporary artists towards directions they have not yet explored.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
source: olisorenson

Inspired from the live works of Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto (1933-) of meticulously ransacking large mirrors, Sorenson revisited the classical traditions of vanitas under new materials together with one of the more celebrated exploits of Arte Povera. From this point on, does Sorrenson reassess art’s materiality if its generative principles now spawn from the destruction of its components? La Société de la Place des Spectacles confront us with a paradoxical twist, an absurd action forged in the same relentless flight of obsolescence and waste as our current media feeding frenzy.