KLAUS FRUCHTNIS
The artwork
Viral Icons
2016
15 photographs – 40x30cm each
Photographs, laser cutting wood
Ed. of 6
Courtesy of Galerie MI*
The Internet is without no doubt the best place to share images. These past years the world has seen, many times and at several occasions, images that have become history thanks to the Internet. Some of them have become social, economical, and political icons; and more importantly, these images have modified our perception and the way we look at society. With the series Viral Icons, I question the use of images taken from the Internet, and reduced them to minimum amount of information (the pixel) then to propose a different way to read these images. The images carefully selected (i.e. September 11th, the Times Square kiss, the Tianamen Square tank man, etc.) appeal to our sensitive and personal experiences, and to our very personal cultural references. They awake among each and everyone of us memories almost forgotten…
The images can be also read with a digital camera. It facilitates the understanding and implies the use of a digital device and an active participation in the creative and participatory process.
The artist
Klaus Fruchtnis is a Paris based French-Colombian digital artist, researcher and educator. His research is based on the areas of photography, multimedia, digital drawing and media experimentation, as well as collective and participatory projects that involve art, technology, cultural, social and political aspects. His vision of new media fosters more than the artistic aspect; it involves shared projects and initiatives with multicultural partners, new approaches to education and the development of digital literacies. His work has been exhibited, performed and published internationally.
Over the past years, he has developed different projects with museums, art centers, correctional centers, local communities, city councils, universities, etc., and, as a result of this, he has created through his own practice, and as part of his artistic research, highly effective and innovative teaching techniques and pedagogical methods. These include a streaming educational channel with new media content, urban mobile workshops, and engaging in discussions with the directorate of cultural affairs of several cities in France in order to develop technological cultural policies. Fruchtnis was born in Colombia and lived in France, Canada, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan and Russia. He is bilingual (Spanish and French) and is fluent in English. He has a BFA in Art & Digital Arts from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts of Paris and Rennes, France, and a Masters in Design Technology, Art & New Media from La Sorbonne University Paris 1 (a joint diploma with ENSCI Les Ateliers and the École Télécom ParisTech ENST.) In 2010-2011, he was part of the EnsadLad research program at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Paris, France. He is now the Chair of Photography and the Core Lab Director of the Master in Transdisciplinary New Media at Paris College of Art.
More information www.klaus-fruchtnis.net