Christopher Ottinger: Ghost Machine: Object Oriented Alchemy

The FVNMA Media Archeologies Institute is excited to present Christopher Ottinger

While Media Archaeology locates media technologies in their historical context, Object Oriented Ontology investigates the nature of objects on their own terms. While these two conversations come close, do they actually speak to each other? Ottinger, will discuss how these two areas of thought might intersect, drawing on work from his recent solo exhibition at Chicago Artists Coalition titled Ghost Machine which articulates his own effort to bridge these two philosophies by way of an alchemical approach to media art.


>> Christopher Ottinger is a Chicago based artist and educator. He earned his MFA in Studio Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and his BA at Columbia College Chicago in Film/Video Directing. Ottinger uses various media technologies to envision new histories and alternative uses for technical objects and investigates how seeing machines effect human perception. His art has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe, including shows at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Laumeier Sculpture Park, UCLA’s CNSI Gallery in collaboration with Patricia Olynyk, and a recent solo exhibition at the Chicago Artists Coalition in Chicago. He is currently an artist-in-residence and mentor at the Chicago Artists Coalition’s BOLT Residency Program. http://christopherottinger.com


>> THE FVNMA MEDIA ARCHEOLOGIES INSTITUTE AT SAIC

The Film, Video, New Media, Animation department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago will present a series of lectures and workshops that will take place throughout the Fall 2013 semester. Its main objective being to provide a site for inquiry into the burgeoning field of Media Archeology. Leading figures in the field will visit SAIC and present their research and various theory-practice approaches within the Media Archeological framework in order to inform, inspire, and initiate media-art practitioners and researchers in Chicago. Participants are this fall are: Erkki Huhtamo, Lori Emerson, Chris Ottinger, Ben Fino-Radin, and Nick Briz. All lectures and workshops are free and open to the public.