Laser installation “Obituary (spit)” by Matt Copson
7.9.2023 - 10.9.2023, 20.00-6.00
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Kim? Contemporary Art Centre presents Matt Copson’s laser animation for three nights only from September 7 – 9 as part of the annual modern culture forum White Night.
Matt Copson’s laser animation Obituary (spit)
Kim? courtyard, Sporta 2
September 7, 8 and 9, during night hours
In Obituary (spit), a laser projector depicts a fox’s head eternally rotating on a spit over a fire. The fox character is a recurring feature in Copson’s work, an adaptation of Reynard the Fox, a character from Lorraine folk tradition – one of the first instances of anthropomorphism. The loop of the animation and the character’s fate seem intertwined, occasionally evolving into various states of abstraction as if the character is melting alive or transcending its fate before constantly returning to its original condition.
Hand-drawn and later computer-generated large-scale laser projection is made in a mechanical device that uses a laser beam and an x and y axis of mirrors to scan one point fast to create the illusion of a moving image. Copson became fascinated with the medium after seeing videos of Pink Floyd concerts that used early versions of lasers and noticed its potential as a visceral and sculptural medium.
Matt Copson (1992) lives and works in London. He graduated in 2014 from London’s Slade School of Fine Art. His work uses theatrical devices and artistic tropes to create existential dramas of contemporaneity, sentimentality, abstraction, eternal recurrence and the uncanny. Arist presented his work in solo and group exhibitions at Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; Mönchehaus Museum, Glosar; Serpentine Gallery, London; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE, amongst others. In 2017, he participated in the 89plus residency at the Paris Google Cultural Institute.
Supported by:
Ministry of Culture, State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council.