Random International
Studies in Motion
27 September–16 November 2014
Lunds konsthall
Mårtenstorget 3
SE-223 51 Lund
Sweden
Lunds konsthall is pleased to be able to introduce Random International to Swedish audiences with the exhibition Studies in Motion. The studio was founded in 2005 by Hannes Koch (b. 1975, Germany), Florian Ortkrass (b. 1975, Germany) and Stuart Wood (b. 1980, England). Today it involves a larger group of people and develops technically ever more sophisticated productions.
Engagement with viewers through various senses, and not least through movement, is at the core of Random International’s practice. Their work is both playful and explorative, demonstrating how art today may incorporate the latest developments in technology and at the same time merge with other forms of expression, such as architecture, music or dance.
The exhibition Studies in Motion comprises three complementary installations that indicate the scope of Random International’s work. The front hall features Future Self (2012), a light installation generating a three-dimensional image of the visitor. You see the shape of your own body being created in the installation as you move through it.
In the rear hall the site-specific sound installation What It Isn’t (2014) hovers just above the visitor’s head. It was commissioned for Lunds konsthall and adapted to its architecture. The visitor’s movements influence the sound generated by the vibrating brass cylinders in the glass vials suspended from the ceiling.
On the first floor you may see yourself as a work of art, albeit a very ephemeral one, in the wall-mounted work Self Portrait (2010). Viewers see their portrait emerge on a light-sensitive surface, but it fades away almost immediately.
An ambitious programme of interpretation is offered with the exhibition, including guided tours, artist talks, family activities and workshops for schools. A documentary film exploring children’s encounters with Random International’s work was made for the exhibition. It captures the spontaneity of their interaction and at the same time expresses the children’s reflections on technology and art.
Random International’s work has been widely exhibited internationally in recent years and their art is included in several private and public collections around the world. Their installation Rain Room was premiered at The Barbican Centre in London in 2012 and was also shown at MoMA in New York in 2013. Works by Random International have been shown in the RuhrTriennale 2013, at the V&A in London, the 4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, The Welcome Trust in London, and elsewhere.
