Event: Jonathan Monaghan's "Escape Pod" @ bitforms (March 22 - May 3, 2015, New York)
Jonathan Monaghan
Escape Podbitforms gallery
Mar 22 - May 3, 2015
131 Allen St
New York, NY 10002
Opening Reception: Sunday, Mar 22, 4:00 – 7:00 PM
Artist Talk & Screening: Thursday, April 2, 7:00 PM
Gallery Hours: Wed - Sat, 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM; Sun 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Jonathan Monaghan (b. 1986, New York) is debuting his new project
, Escape Pod,at un upcoming solo show at bitforms gallery, New York's epicenter of digital, computational art and Game Art since 2001.
A 20 minute animated film, Escape Pod:
is based on hunting mythologies of the Greek and Nordic traditions. It captures the journey of a golden stag that roams modernist spaces of authoritarian confrontation and material excess. Lavish bedrooms, airport checkpoints, and a luxury riot gear boutique are encountered, as the scenery unfolds from the perspective of a floating viewpoint that is framed as a continuous shot. In a climatic moment, the golden fawn is birthed out of a BoConcept sofa, only to be carried away, into a heavenly Duty Free shop in the clouds. Seamlessly looped in a twenty-minute cycle, "Escape Pod" suggests an apocalyptic decadent future – one that is militarized, totalitarian and permeated by extravagance. It is a representation of labored pursuits, particularly of the otherworldly or unobtainable.
Additionally, the exhibition will feature recent prints created in a process of computational collage,
After Fabergéa series of five-foot photographic prints that combine the experience of consumer technology and luxury goods. Mashing anatomy and design, these highly detailed compositions evoke alternate realities, if not fetishistic obsessions. The eggs are ornamented with human orifices, industrial vents, USB plugs – and even a Starbucks coffee shop. Resplendent in decorative detail, and enveloped by stark white backgrounds, their appearance is evocative of commercially functional products. Yet, each egg lacks a specific purpose, which causes these virtual objects to hold a strange and ominous power.
The imagery of After Fabergé reappears in The Pavilion, an animation with a new age soundtrack that conflates the ostentation of Baroque architecture, a walk-in closet, and the folds of a gigantic anus.
Jonathan Monaghan, The Pavilion, 2014, animated HD film, 3 minutes, seamless loop
We spoke to Jonathan in 2013. You can read the full interview
here. Monaghan will also take part in Myth and Mutations, a group show at REVERSE, Brooklyn between Apr 10 – May 3, 2015.LINK:
Monaghan at bitformsLINK:Jonathan MonaghanSubmitted by Matteo Bittanti (via Chris Romero, Photos courtesy bitforms gallery, New York)