Kristan Horton

THE STATE OF ELCAIRES
layout
printed matter
trompe L'oeil
detail
origami (image)

CARVING


WHAT'S IN A NAME?


POWERLINES


CATHERINE FOLDED 6-TIMES (MAX)


TV RELIEF







1998 - 2006 Magazine Project

click here to read the text for the review "The State of Eclairs"

"In 1998 I created 6 reviews that were fictional. I imagined the work, wrote the review and created the images. The final works were reviews of works. The second phase was the creation of printing plates for each review. The printing plates are etched stainless steel, each plate represents a seperate colour in the printing process. The third phase is Trompe L'oeil. Computer generated images of the reviews are produced creating the sense that they are objects. Part of the paradoxical nature of the project, the fiction of the work contrasts with the various attempts to make it real, or manifest.

The content of the reviews are another level to engage the work. For example, The State of Eclaires reviews the artist Kristan Horton where he takes chocolate bars purchased at the local variety store, melts them down, and recasts them as figurine horses. This transformative act is later echoed in work such as Cig2Coke2Tin2Coff2Milk. Another article entitled Catherine Folded 6 Times (Max) reviews the artist Kristan Horton where he attempts to fold a newspaper clipping as many times as he can. This treatment of content as object, and the literal folding are also concepts echoed in the project as a whole. Each article, each in a different way, examine some aspect of the project as a whole - the aforementioned paradox. It is in this way, that the Magazine project is a layered and self referential work, perhaps most perversely in "State of Eclaires: origami" which not only exhibits the traits of Trompe L'Oeil, but goes on to treat that given sense of the object to another simulated physical transformation as origami, or a folded version of itself with a resemblance to a pig, which brings us also back to the transformation we found in the chocolate horse.

The work entitled Baker and Blake consists of the artificial intelligence known as Baker and Blake respectively. They manifest as real-time 3D models - they can move and speak. Baker and Blake are always in conversation. Their minds consist of a database, which is the entire contents of a Janson and Janson history of art text. As they converse, they iterate an endless recombining of those texts producing surprising results. This is due to the syntactic game that artificial intelligence employs to sound human. Baker and Blake are organic to the extent that they exhibit a limited form of creativity and are able, in a sense, to transform concepts. Their behaviour can be directed towards creating an artwork and at that time, if feasable, have it produced.

The image above is entitled: "Folded Lead Reinhardt",the first artwork ever produced by Baker and Blake.

projected, looping animation

One of several prototypes to create stainless steel couplings. The couplings are small custom made devices that fascilitate a connection between a bottle of ketchup and mustard, allowing them to exchange their liquids. The variety of couplings account for the differently sized ketchup and mustard bottles.