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CONCEPTS AND TITLES a show by ORTEGA APRIL 2012 at The Storefront Gallery in Kingston, NY
www.conceptsandtitles.com
THE INCEPTION FOR THE EXHIBITION "CONCEPTS AND TITLES" IS DRAWN FROM THE 2009 BOOK OF THE SAME NAME BY CHRISTIAN ORTEGA. THE IDEA FOR AN ART INSTALLATION WAS PROPOSED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO A STAGED READING. THE EXHIBITION DRAWS FROM A SELECTION OF ONE HUNDRED CONCEPTS AND ONE HUNDRED TITLES. EACH CHAPTER OF THE BOOK IS PRINTED OUT AND AFFIXED TO THE GALLERY WALLS FOR VISITORS TO EXPERIENCE INDIVIDUALLY OR AS A GROUP. BY PINNING EACH CONCEPT OR TITLE DIRECTLY ON THE WALL THE ARTIST DESIRES THAT THERE BE NO GLASS BUFFER TO SEGREGATE THE ARTWORK FROM ITS AUDIENCE. THE RESULT IS AN IMMEDIATE AND INTIMATE VIEWING EXPERIENCE.
THE WORDS THAT MAKE UP "CONCEPTS AND TITLES" ARE SENTENCES, FRAGMENTS AND LINES FROM POEMS – IDEAS THAT ORTEGA HAS JOTTED DOWN IN JOURNALS AND SCRAPS OF PAPER OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS. EACH ONE REPRESENTS THE ARTIST EXPERIMENTING AND HAVING FUN WITH LANGUAGE, FREE-ASSOCIATING, GLEANING WORDS AND PHRASES FROM THE WORLD AROUND HIM AND RE-IMAGINING THEM IN NEW AND INNOVATIVE WAYS. ALL OF THE CONCEPTS AND TITLES ARE ORIGINAL, THOUGH OFTEN THEY ARE INSPIRED BY OR RIFF ON COMMON PHRASES OR EXPRESSIONS, AND AT TIMES ALLUDE TO LITERARY AND CINEMATIC HISTORY. IN CREATING THE BOOK AND SUBSEQUENT EXHIBITION, ORTEGA HAS ORGANIZED THESE THOUGHTS AND IDEAS INTO A COMPREHENSIVE AND COHERENT WORK.
DESPITE THE CONSISTENCY OF FORMAT WITHIN THE BOOK AND EXHIBITION, THERE IS A MARKED CONTRAST, BOTH VISUALLY AND IN CONTENT: THE CONCEPTS ARE HAND-WRITTEN IN ORTEGA'S DISTINCTIVE BLOCK CAPITALS, PLACING AN EMPHASIS ON THE ARTIST'S PRESENCE, THE FIGURATIVE AND LITERAL ROLE OF HIS HAND AND THE AUTHORITY THAT THIS IMPLIES. CONCEPTS ARE PRESENTED DEVOID OF PUNCTUATION; WORDS AND PHRASES BROKEN UP OR MASHED TOGETHER, LETTERS IN COLUMNS IN VARIED STYLES. THUS A PARTICIPATORY ELEMENT OF DECODING EMERGES IN THE VIEWING / READING PROCESS. CONCEPTS CAN BE READ AS MORE RAW AND EMOTIONAL, YET STILL OBSERVATIONAL IN NATURE. THE TITLES, HOWEVER, ARE SET IN THE FONT AMERICAN TYPEWRITER, WHICH ALSO IMPLIES THE ROLE OF THE HAND BUT BY WAY OF A MACHINE. THE TEXT IS EASILY LEGIBLE AND CENTERED ON THE PAGE. TITLES CONVEY AN AIR OF GREATER FINALITY: THEY ARE CLEAR, CONCISE AND AUTHORITATIVE. THE TWO CHAPTERS OF THE WORK ARE DISTINCT AND DISCRETE – BOTH IN TERMS OF THE IDEAS PRESENTED, AND IN THE NATURE OF THEIR VISUAL PRESENTATION – YET THEY FIT TOGETHER, COMPLEMENT ONE ANOTHER, AND EXIST AS SYMBIOTIC HALVES OF A UNIFIED WHOLE.
BOTH THE EXHIBITION AND THE BOOK ARE INTENDED AS INTERACTIVE AND INSTRUCTIVE. THERE IS AN IMPLIED SUGGESTION THAT VIEWERS CAN SEE THE EXHIBIT AS A STARTING POINT FOR THEIR OWN CREATIONS. "CONCEPTS AND TITLES" IS FUNDAMENTALLY A DIALOGIC SERIES ABOUT IDEAS; IT IS MEANT TO COMMUNICATE WITH AND ULTIMATELY INSPIRE ITS AUDIENCE TO CREATE IN TURN. JUST AS "CONCEPTS AND TITLES" EXISTS AS TWO SEPARATE INCARNATIONS – A BOOK AND AN ART INSTALLATION, ORTEGA CANNOT BE FINITELY GROUPED IN THE FIELDS OF FINE ART OR POETRY; THERE ARE BOTH UNDENIABLE VISUAL AND LINGUISTIC ASPECTS CENTRAL TO HIS WORK. ORTEGA SHARES A STRONG AFFINITY WITH ARTISTS WHOSE WORK ALSO HAS A LINGUISTIC FOCUS, MOST NOTABLY JENNY HOLZER, CHRISTOPHER WOOL AND ED RUSCHA.
THE ARTIST'S AIM IS TO CREATE A BOOK THAT ONE CAN READ COVER TO COVER OR OPEN AT RANDOM, AND THE INSTALLATION CAN BE APPROACHED IN A COMPARABLE MANNER. THE END PURPOSE OF BOTH IS TO ENGAGE AND TO STIMULATE IDEAS IN ITS AUDIENCE; CONNECTING WITH, CHALLENGING AND MOTIVATING READERS AND VIEWERS. "CONCEPTS AND TITLES" ULTIMATELY REPRESENTS A CAREFUL MEDITATION ON PROCESS AND FORM, AND A PLAYFUL CELEBRATION OF LANGUAGE AND IT'S ABILITY TO CHARM AND GALVANIZE.
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