November 2015

REFLECTIONS

REFLECTIONS

operagallery.com
REFLECTIONS
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Margarida Sardinha

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Daniel Rozin

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Yuri Suzuki

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Kristin and Davy McGuire

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Memo Akten

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Amanda Charchian
Augmented Reality (AR) functions as a live view of reality augmented by computer sensory input. Information about the real world
of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulable, thus enhancing one’s current perception of reality.
Follow these simple instructions to experience augmented reality on the catalogue artworks accompanied by the AR pictogram:

1. Download the free app ONpoint for Android or iPhone

2. Scan the artworks marked with

3. Watch the image digitally transform

Reflections

In 1996, a group of seven young researchers walked down the halls of Massachusetts Institute of
Technology with dreams of being cyborgs. Carrying computer transmitters in their back pockets, the group
was intent on exploring the way humans could live in a simultaneously physical and virtual world. Their
process was painful at first; their devices an interference. But gradually the group learned to integrate
technology into their lives to the point where its presence became tolerable, then familiar, then inseparable
to their physical identities. In its persistence, technology had allowed the group to expand their capacity
of perception and interaction with the three-dimensional world, offering an exotic connectivity of poetic,
existential magnitude.
Twenty years later, we are all cyborgs. Increasingly dedicating more time to the Internet through our
virtual social media avatars, we have succeeded in cloning our physical selves to live permanently in two
separate dimensions. Our perceptive reality has been shaped accordingly. A culture of the flat-image,
our screens have become two-dimensional windows into a multi-dimensional realm; our interpersonal
connections equally, if not more so, sustained through our digital rather than physical interactions.
Tantalized by the impact of these gradual and irreversible shifts on the nature of speculation, Opera
Gallery is thrilled to present Reflections, an exhibition of predominantly digital art curated by Neil
McConnon, Head of Barbican International Enterprises, Barbican Centre.

Gilles Dyan Jean-David Malat

Founder & Chairman Director
Opera Gallery Group Opera Gallery London

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Foreword

Digital technology has become an all pervasive medium. Over recent decades it has evolved into a force
for creation and expression on a scale beyond anything most of us might have dared imagine. ‘Digital’
is now embedded within almost every aspect of the contemporary life of ‘industrialised countries’, with
huge global implications - positive and negative.
The possibilities of digital communication have during these past decades inspired a number of
artists to extend their practice into new areas. The virtual world has become increasingly validated,
challenging perceived notions and hierarchies and pushing working methodologies into new, often
uncharted territories. Computers and mobile phones are now an almost inescapable part of modern
living. It is perhaps therefore not surprising that the boundaries between technology and art seem
increasingly fluid. Similarly, the delineations between disciplines are becoming more and more blurred
as artists, not content to be straight-jacketed, move between static imagery, film, music, theatre, fashion,
dance and installation. The art world and art audiences are adapting to these changes, and sometimes
challenging conceptions, enabling a wider dissemination and greater understanding of the medium.
The artists and works in this exhibition, Reflections, offer a sample of some of the ways in which
this ‘new media’ is being used, and range from relatively straight forward digital photography to, for
example, computer generated moving images. They embrace the medium as a tool and, like paint or clay
traditionally, use it to shape their visions of reality.

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Memo Akten explores the collisions between man and machine. Fascinated by trying to understand the
world and human nature, he investigates technology’s role in learning more about ourselves, how we
connect with each other, and our relationship with nature, science, culture and tradition. Combining
conceptual work with investigations into form, movement and sound he works across many disciplines
including video, sound, light, dance, software, online works and large-scale immersive installations and
performances.

With a fascination and profound appreciation for mystery and the complexities of the unknown,
Amanda Charchian produces images which are mystical, playful and sensual. She creates surreal and
intimate landscapes to play out the recurring themes in her photographic work of nature and nudity,
usually forming lasting and meaningful connections with the women she shoots.

Davy & Kristin McGuire create hybrid works with fragile materials that are momentarily brought to life
through digital projections and silent storytelling. The pieces are magical glimpses into other worlds,
often inspired by pre-cinema optical illusions, zoetropes or magic lanterns; they intrigue and mesmerise,
drawing the viewer into a world where fantasy and reality become entwined.

With titles such as Darwinian Lines Mirror, PomPom Mirror and Weave Mirror, Daniel Rozin creates works
that have the unique ability to change and respond to the presence and perspective of the viewer. Often the
viewer is represented in the content of the piece or invited to take an active role in the creation of the work.
Where computers and software are used in Rozin’s work, they are seldom visible, and what the viewer
experiences is usually a form of his or her own reflection, physically articulated and dramatically abstracted.

Margarida Sardinha creates work in the form of optical, abstract illusions. She is concerned with revealing
underlying parallels between literature, religion and science, seeking out conscious ‘meaning’ through a
process of photography, video and animation. The results are powerful and poetic.

Yuri Suzuki is a sound artist, designer, electronic musician and DJ who produces work that explores
the realms of sound through exquisitely designed pieces. His work does not sit neatly within any one
discipline, and has moved seamlessly between gallery, agency, stage and screen.

Neil McConnon
Curator

Neil McConnon is Head of International Enterprises at Barbican Centre, London. He is responsible for conceiving and producing
some of the most challenging and successful exhibitions in Barbican’s history, developing major projects that launch in the UK
and tour internationally. He has worked with some of the world’s leading cultural organisations - collaborating as co-producers and
partners. Previously, Neil worked as a practising artist, a freelance curator/consultant and at the ICA London. He has a BA Fine Art
and Design (Central St Martins School of Art, London) and an MA Curating (Goldsmiths’ College, University of London).

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 MargariDa Sardinha

Margarida Sardinha is an artist and director born in Lisbon, Portugal

in 1978. She studied Fine Art and Combined Media Studies at Central
Saint Martins College of Art and at Chelsea College of Art and Design
in London, where she lived and worked for ten years. Sardinha’s cross-
media practice includes site-specific installation, experimental film and
animation, photography, video, sound and drawing, all geometric-kinetic
and abstract in nature. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her
directorial projects, including Best Experimental Film at the Hollywood
Reel Independent Film Festival, Great Lakes Film Festival, Creative Arts
Film Festival & Bridge Fest, Vancouver, Best Spiritual & Religious Film at
the Directors Circle Film Festival, Best Cinematic Vision awarded by the
London Film Awards, and an Honourable Mention at the 23rd New Orleans
Film Festival; The Indie; The Accolade and the Rochester International
Film Festival. Her visual work has been exhibited in major solo shows at
the Aga Khan Foundation’s Ismaili Centre in Lisbon, the Ericeira Cultura
Center, Portugal, and the Fernando Pessoa Museum, Lisbon.

Mirador de Lingaraja - La Relatividad de la Luz, 2014

Digital photograph, photograph paper, plexiglass
150 x 94 x 35 cm - 59 x 37 x 13.8 in.
Edition of 10

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Palacio del Partal - La Materia del Fuego, 2014 Oratorio del Palacio del Partal - Multiverso de Sonido, 2014
Digital photograph, photograph paper, plexiglass Digital photograph, photograph paper, plexiglass
150 x 94 x 35 cm - 59 x 37 x 13.8 in. 150 x 94 x 35 cm - 59 x 37 x 13.8 in.
Edition of 10 Edition of 10

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Pateo de los Leones - Consciencia del Tiempo, 2014
Digital photograph, photograph paper, plexiglass
150 x 94 x 35 cm - 59.1 x 37 x 13.8 in.
Edition of 10

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Interior del Palacio de Comares - La Singularidad de la Lente, 2014
Digital photograph, photograph paper, plexiglass
150 x 94 x 35 cm - 59 x 37 x 13.8 in.
Edition of 10

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Pateo de los Leones - Punto de Origen, 2014
Digital photograph, photograph paper, plexiglass
150 x 94 x 35 cm - 59 x 37 x 13.8 in.
Edition of 10

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 Daniel Rozin

Daniel Rozin is an artist, educator, and developer who makes interactive

installations and sculptures that have the unique ability to change and
respond to the presence of a viewer. His «mirror works» respond in
real-time to recreate a live visual representation of the viewer’s likeness,
staging the audience as an active, creative, and integral part of his pieces.
Past exhibitions of his work include the Reina Sofía National Museum,
Madrid; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Garage CCC,
Moscow; ICC, Tokyo; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Taiwan National
Museum of Fine Art, Taipei; Barbican Centre, London; Bunkamura
Museum of Art, Tokyo; the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museums,
Beijing; Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; and the Sundance Film
Festival, among others. The recipient of numerous awards, including the
Prix Ars Electronica, I.D. Design Review, Chrysler Design Award, and
the Rothschild Prize, Rozin is an associate arts professor at ITP in the
Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He earned a BD at the
Jerusalem Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and an MPS from NYU.
He lives and works in New York.

Darwinian Rotating Lines Mirror, 2014

Video camera, custom software, computer, 46” screen
Dimensions variable, horizontal or vertical
Edition of 6, 1 AP
© Image courtesy of Bitform Gallery, New York

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Darwinian Rotating Lines Mirror (2014) is the third piece in Daniel Rozin's series of Darwinian Software Mirrors. The
behavior of the software is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, by which organisms heritable
traits change over successive generation, based on a given environment. In this piece, programmed “evolutionary
pressure” pushes the artwork to resemble the viewer’s mirrored image. Interacting and responding to the presence
of a viewer, each work varies in its formal properties of line, luminosity, and tempo, as screen-based pictures are built
improvisationally.’

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 yuri suzuki

Yuri Suzuki is a sound artist and electronic musician who produces work
that explores the realms of sound through exquisitely designed pieces.
Suzuki was born in Tokyo in 1980. Between 1999 and 2005 he worked
for the Japanese art unit Maywa Denki, where he developed a strong
interest in music and technology.
In 2005 he moved to London to study at the Royal College of Art,
where he now teaches Design Interaction and Information Experience.
Suzuki’s work raises questions on the relationship between sound
and people and how music and sound affect people’s mind. His sound
art pieces and installations have been shown in exhibitions all around
the world including the Tate Gallery London, Mudam Luxembourg and
Nam June Pike Art Centre. In 2014, the Museum of Modern Art, New
York acquired his work OTOTO and Colour Chasers to their permanent
collection.

Tube Map Radio, 2012

Annotated Electrical Circuit
30 x 25 cm - 11.8 x 9.8 in.
Edition of 50

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Tube Map Radio
The map is inspired by a spoof diagram created by the original designer of the London Tube map, Harry Beck, which
shows the lines and stations as an annotated electrical circuit. Iconic landmarks on this map are represented by
components relating to their functions, including a speaker where Speakers’ Corner sits and a battery representing
Battersea Power Station.

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 © Alice Masters

Sound of the Earth

The grooves in Sound of the Earth represent the outlines of the geographic land mass. Each country on the disc
is engraved with a different sound. As the needle moves across the sphere, it plays field recordings collected by
the artist from around the world over the course of four years.

Sound of the Waves

Sound of the Waves is a simulation of sea wave patterns that picks up patterns from site specific beaches in the world and
plays it back acoustically via the African Rainstick.

Sound of the Earth, 2009 - 2012 Sound of the Waves, 2015

Spherical record project Simulation sea wave patterns, picking up patterns from site-specific
beaches in the world and playing them back acoustically via
Film loop: 30 minutes
an African rain stick
Edition of 30
Sound loop: 30 minutes
Edition of 30

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 Kristin and
Davy McGuire

Davy & Kristin McGuire are the founders and designers of an

award winning creative studio based in Bristol, UK. Creating hybrid
installations and theatrical projects, the McGuires bring to life delicately
hand-made settings through digital projections and storytelling. Their
2009 project The Icebook, the world’s first projection mapped pop-up
book, achieved enormous success both online and on tour. They are the
recipients of The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award 2013 and
the Helpmann Award for Best Visual Theatre Production 2015, and have
exhibited, screened and published their works internationally. Kristin,
a trained dancer with the Mark Bruce Company, has performed with
international companies including Cirque du Soleil. Her husband Davy
has a background in theatre and film.

Paper Noir - Laundromat, 2015

Paper model, sound and video, framed in a box
62 x 38 x 13 cm - 24.4 x 14.9 x 5.1 in.
Edition of 5

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Ophelia, 2015
62 x 32 x 24 cm - 24.4 x 12.5 x 9.4 in.
Video sculpture, holographic projection, framed in cabinet
Edition of 10
Jam Jar Fairy, 2015
47 x 33 x 33 cm - 18.5 x 13 x 13 in.
Video sculpture, holographic projection of Kristen, filmed by Davy,
framed in cabinet
Edition of 25

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Hitchcock - Birds, 2013 Hitchcock - Rear Window, 2013
Paper Model, sound and video, framed in box Paper Model, sound and video, framed in box
54 x 65 x 47 cm - 21.2 x 25.5 x 18.5 in. 74 x 76 x 62 cm - 29.1 x 29.9 24.4 in.
Edition of 1 Edition of 1

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Hitchcock - Psycho, 2013
Paper Model, sound and video, framed in box
66 x 69 x 53 cm - 26 x 27.2 x 20.8 in.
Edition of 1

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 Memo Akten

Memo Akten is an artist from Istanbul, based in London, UK. He works

with systems and algorithms; exploring the harmonies and tensions
between nature, science, technology, culture and tradition. Combining
conceptual work with investigations into form, movement and sound,
he works across many disciplines including video, sound, light, dance,
software, online works, installations and performances.
His work has been exhibited worldwide, including the Victoria & Albert
Museum, London, Royal Opera House, London; Tate Britain, London;
La Gaîté lyrique, Paris; Holon Design Museum, Israel and the EYE Film
Institute, Amsterdam, among many others. Alongside his practice,
Akten is currently working towards a PhD at Goldsmiths University
of London in artificial intelligence and expressive human-machine
interaction.

Still from Equilibrium, 2014

Interactive touch-screen video installation,
1ch HD touch-screen LCD, custom software
Variable dimensions (screen: 76.2 or 152.4 cm - 30 or 60 in.)
Edition of 6 + 1AP

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Still from Equilibrium, 2014
Interactive touch-screen video installation, 1ch HD touch-screen LCD, custom software
Variable dimensions (screen: 76.2 or 152.4 cm - 30 or 60 in.)
Edition of 6 + 1AP

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Installation of Equilibrium, 2014 Gold, 2009
Interactive touch-screen video installation 1ch HD LCD screen, infrared camera, custom software
1ch HD touch-screen LCD, custom software Variable dimensions (screen: 107 or 228.6 cm - 42 or 90 in.)
Dimensions: variable (screen: 76.2 or 152.4 cm - 30 or 60 in.) Edition of 6 + 1AP

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 Amanda Charchian

Amanda Charchian is a Los Angeles based fine artist and photographer

born in 1988. She received her BFA from Otis College of Art and
Design and has exhibited in numerous exhibitions worldwide. Bathed
in saturated hues, Charchian’s photographs present an exploration
of the liberated female body. Charchian uses a distinct blend of grain
texture, multiple exposure and light play to generate her captivating
and surrealist works.

Antelope Canyon, 2014

C-Print photography
91.5 x 61 cm - 36 x 24 in.
Edition of 10

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India in Woodstock II, 2014
C-Print photography
61 x 91.5 cm - 24 x 36 in.
Edition of 10
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Ginger Entanglement, 2013
C-Print photography
76.2 x 76.2 cm - 30 x 30 in.
Edition of 10

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India in Woodstock, 2014 Antelope Canyon, 2014
C-Print photography C-Print photography
91.5 x 61 cm - 36 x 24 in. 61 x 91.5 cm - 24 x 36 in.
Edition of 10 Edition of 10

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Ginger Entanglement, 2013
C-Print photography
76.2 x 76.2 cm - 30 x 30 in.
Edition of 10

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Curator Neil McConnon

Coordinators Jean-David Malat,
Marion Galan Alfonso,
Gili Karev,
Margaux De Pauw,
Florie-Anne Mondoloni

Author Gili Karev

Designer Willie Kaminski

Printers Typoform
 operagallery.com

Opera Gallery, 134 New Bond Street, London W1S 2TF

+44 (0) 207 491 2999 | london@operagallery.com