27 September – 16 November 2014

Random International. Studies in Motion

Hannes Koch, Florian Ortkrass, Stuart Wood. 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 (Germany, born in 1975), Florian Ortkrass (Germany, born in 1975) and Stuart Wood (England, born in 1980). 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 many 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 and learning 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 attempts to capture the spontaneity of their interaction and at the same time to express the children’s reflections on technology and art.

On Saturday, 4 October at 2pm, 4pm and 6pm the internationally acclaimed dance company Wayne McGregor | Random Dance will perform in relation to the work Future Self, to a musical score by Max Richter. The last performance will be followed by a conversation with the artists.

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. The studio has a long-standing collaboration with Wayne McGregor | Random Dance.

The exhibition Studies in Motion and the accompanying activities were produced in collaboration between Lunds konsthall and The Creative Plot (thecreativeplot.se) within the framework of InnoCarnival in Lund (innocarnival.se)

Curators: Åsa Nacking, Debora Voges

Photographer: Terje Östling