Projects 94: Henril Olesen's Portraits of Disassembled Electronic Devices

Portrait of Kirsten/Canon PIXMA iP4200 (2011; disassembled photo printer mounted on plexiglass) on the left and Portrait of Scott/13" MacBook (2011; disassembled Apple MacBook laptop computer mounted on plexiglass) on the right.

Power Mac G5 2GHz (2011, disassembled Apple Power Mac G5 2 GHz computer mounted on plexiglass)

Power Mac G5 2GHz (2011, disassembled Apple Power Mac G5 2 GHz computer mounted on plexiglass)

These are photos of disassembled computers and printer currently on view at the Museum of Modern Art's "Projects 94: Henrik Olesen." The Museum of Modern Art presents new works by Berlin-based artist Henrik Olesen (Danish, b. 1967) made specifically for this presentation. Olesen's past projects have addressed a range of subjects, including legal codes, the natural sciences, distribution of capital, and art history. For his first solo museum exhibition in the United States, the artist has gathered disassembled electronic devices mounted on large Plexiglas panels, found-object sculptures, and text-based collages, which together exemplify the range of his practice. Linking this group of works is the relationship of the body and the machine, undergoing what he calls "production, reproduction, and self-production." Olesen has a longstanding interest in the obsession of early modern artists, such as the Dadaists and Surrealists, with the transformation and proliferation of bodies, machines, and systems. In this group of works, he hints at the possibility of liberation from the body, proposing an alternative conception of existence. The installation's combination of words and objects, which waver between personal and anonymous, reflect Olesen's view of the state of the body in technological, capitalist societies of the present day. The exhibit runs through May 23. (information from the gallery caption).