Don Ritter • Press Kit April 2020
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Don Ritter • Press Kit April 2020 “The shock of waking up suddenly from amnesia is painful, which explains, perhaps, the psychological dislocation of perception provoked by Ritter’s art. An artistic counter-strategy of psychological dislocation for the body numbed by the invisible blows of technology.” Arthur Kroker, The Will to Technology and the Culture of Nihilism: Heidegger, Nietzsche & Marx “Don Ritter’s interactive installations are concerned with human behaviour. Ritter acts like a researcher demonstrating his ideas through experiments. But the viewer cannot step back and watch others behave, s/he is directly involved in the situation being created. The meaning of the work is conveyed through the viewer’s immediate personal experience.” Lilet Breddels, Archis “To enter an installation by artist Don Ritter is to become an active participant in a technological emulation of a tangible and somewhat familiar experience. Ritter’s installation places the audience in the active position of accomplice, making it as much a part of the medium as the technological supports that make the installation work.” Laura Heon, Director, SITE Santa Fe “Ritter’s play with his viewers’ phobias recalls the anxiety-provoking tendencies of Surrealism.” Dottie Indyke, ARTnews “Don Ritter belongs to the most original contemporary video-artists. Although Ritter uses complex technologies to create aesthetic experiences for audiences, he is not a technocrat; for him the interaction is not the aim but the means to test the influences and impacts of nature, machines and media to human personality.” Jozef Cseres, curator/writer, Profil Contemporary Art Magazine, Slovakia “In none of Mr. Ritter’s maturing phases as an artist did he employ technology without reason or merely for its own sake as we have so often witnessed with other artists. In other words, with Don Ritter’s work we are dealing with interactive art in its purest and most beautiful form.” Dr. Christine Schöpf, co-director, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria “Combined with his technological competence and searching curiosity to find and probe new media, his poetic vocabulary is orchestrated into vivid, powerful multi media pieces which are authentic and original. His imagery incorporates old love of surrealism on the one hand and fascination with several generations of technology on the other hand, highlighted by flashes of humor and spiced by emanations of angst.” Otto Piene, artist, Professor Emeritus, Center for Advanced Visual Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Burning Too, architectural projection, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong, 2016 Contents 5-8 Biography, exhibition history, major works 9 Art Rock Fantastic Elements exhibition program, Bretagne, France. 2017 10 Le Télégramme “Art Rock. Les éléments déchaînés,” St. Brieuc, France. 2017 11 Ars Electronica Festival 2016, “Burning Too,” exhibition catalogue and website, Linz, Austria, 2016 12 sustain persuade channel, “Sustained Signage” animations about sustainability, YouTube, USA, 2016 13 International Symposium for Electronic Art 2016, “Don Ritter Burning Too,” exhibition catalogue, Hong Kong, 2016 14-15 Brainard Carey “Don Ritter.” Interviews from Yale University Radio WYBCX, New Haven, USA, 2016 16 Lanfranco Aceti “Black Sheep Talks: Interview with Don Ritter, ” Museum of Contemporary Cuts, Boston, USA. 17-18 Don Ritter “Defining Conceptual Interactivity,” best paper in Creative Arts & Design, VSMM conference, Hong Kong, 2015 19-20 Ryszard Kluszczynski “Vested: Action and Responsibility.” Move - New European Media Art. Halle: Werkleitz, 2009 21-22 Donya Ravasani “Terror als Kunst.” Kulturzeit, 3sat TV broadcast(transcript), Berlin, Germany. 2010 (Deutsch) 23-24 Donya Ravasani “Terrorism as Art.” Kulturzeit, 3sat TV broadcast(transcript), Berlin, Germany. 2010 (English translation) 25 Judith Behnk “Move - New European Media Art,” ART: Das Kunstmagazin, review of Vested. Oct. 12, 2009 (Deutsch) 26 Karen Pinchin “Explosive Material.” Winter Olympics Cultural Pavilion, website, Vancouver, Canada.2010 27 CODE, Winter Olympics Cultural Olympiad, Exhibition catalogue, Vested, p. 13 Vancouver, Canada. 2010 28-29 Dottie Indyke, “Surrounded by Art: SITE Santa Fe Makes Work Personal For Viewers,” Albuquerque Journal, USA, p. S1-S3, September 23, 2005 30 Indyke, Dottie (2006) “Dana Schutz, Charles Long, Don Ritter.” ARTnews. March. USA, p. 144-145 31-33 SITE Santa Fe, catalogue, USA, Fall 2005 34-35 Laura Heon, Director, SITE Santa Fe, gallery guide, USA, Fall 2005 36 Gilbert A. Bouchard “Do you have what it takes to be a leader--or a demagogue?” Edmonton Journal, Canada, March 27, 2006 37 Zane Fischer, “Siting Laps,” Santa Fe Reporter, USA, p.26, September 28, 2005 38 Lilet Breddels, “Vox Populi,” , Amsterdam, Netherlands, p. 50, #6, 2004 39-41 Jozef Cseres, “Co ze se to dnes deje se zvuky v prostoru?” His Voice, #2. Prague, Czech Rep. 2008 (Czech) 42 Hermes’ Ear Festival, Brno House of Art, Brno, Czech Republic. O telephone. 2009 43 Debatty, Régine “O telephone” we-make-money-not-art.com. Berlin, Germany. 2007 44 CIANT Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic. poster, 2009 (Czech) 45-51 Jozef Cseres, “Neinteraktívne Uninie Je Mrtve,” Profil: Contemporary Art Magazine, Slovakia, p. 52-55, vol 4, 2000 (Slovakian/English) 52 Gilbert A. Bouchard, “Playing in virtual four-lane traffic a tad unnerving,” Edmonton Journal, Canada, p. B6, June 27, 2004 53-56 Prix Ars Electronica Honourary Mention for Orpheus, Linz, Austria. Interactive Art Category. 1991 (Deutsch/English) 57-66 Don Ritter, “The Intersection of Art and Interactivity” Ars Electronica Festival 96, Vienna: Springer. p. 274-285, 1996 (Deutsch/English) 70 CITY: International Media Art Award 2000, documentary DVD, ZKM/SWR, Germany. 2000 71-73 Klangkunst/Sonambiente Berlin, exhibition catalogue, München:Prestel/Akademie der Künst. p. 124-125, 1996 (Deutsch) 74 Julie Crysler “The Interactive Art of Don Ritter” in Klangkunst/Sonambiente Berlin, exhibition catalogue, English translation, 1996 75-76 Jozef Cseres, “Interaltivnym umenim za novú senzibilitu” in Dart: Revue of Contemporary Art, Slovakia, issue 10, p 20-21, 2003 (Slovakian) 77-79 Metrònom 1997-1998, gallery catalogue, Barcelona: Metrònom p. 8-13,156-157, 191; 1998 (Spanish) 80 “El artista Don Ritter inaugura una instalación sonora en Metrònom” in El Mundo-Cataluna, Barcelona, Spain, p. 4, September 30, 1997 (Spanish) 81 Catalina Serra “Pesadilla en Fusina, 9” in El Pais-Cataluna, Barcelona, Spain, p. 16, October 10, 1997 (Spanish) 82 Catalina Serra “Metrònom inaugura su temporada con las <<intersecciones>> acústicas de Don Ritter” in ABC-Cataluna, Barcelona, Spain, p. 16, September 30, 1997 (Spanish) 83 Metrònom, Barcelona, Spain, description of exhibition; 1997 (Spanish) 84-85 Wilson, Stephen “Information Arts,” Cambridge:MIT Press. p. 656,739-740, 784. 2001 86 Robert Rowe. “Interactive Music Systems,” discussion & cover image. Cambridge:MIT Press. p. 90-91, 1992 87-88 Robert Rowe. “Machine Musicianship,” discussion & movies on CD-ROM. Cambridge:MIT Press. p. 359-360, 2001 89-91 Sound Symposium 7, symposium catalogue, St. John’s, Canada. p. 190-191, 1994 92 Sound Symposium 7, press release, St. John’s, Canada. 1994 93-95 European Media Art Festival, exhibition catalogue, Osnabrück, Germany. p. 190-191, 1993 96 Obscure, publicity poster for telecommunications performance, Quebec City, Canada, 1994 97 Festival International Musique Actuelle Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada, festival catalogue, p. 61, 1990 98 Micki McGee. “New Technologies: Perils and Pleasure” review in “High Performance,” Winter p. 20-21, 1989 98 Andrew Jones, “Horizontal Hold,” in “Montréal Mirror,” studio interview. October 4, 1990 Vested, interactive video-sound installation, Winter Olympics Cultural Olympiad, Vancouver, Canada, 2010 3 Intersection, interactive sound installation, Metronom, Barcelona, Spain, 2007 “Skies” interactive video-sound stallation (1998) 16 x 16 m/50 x 50 ft; Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada Vox Populi, interactive video-sound installation, SITE Santa Fe, USA, 2004 Wet, video installation, Museum of Saint-Brieuc, France, 2017 4 Unnecessary Signage, silk screen prints on aluminum, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong, 2015 For All The Museums That Forgot To Offer An Exhibition To Me, architectural projection, Daegu Culture and Arts Center, South Korea, 2015 Biography Don Ritter (b. 1959) is a Canadian artist and writer who has been active in the field of media art since 1988. His interdisciplinary artworks and writings integrate fine art and digital media with aesthetics and ethics. Ritter’s immersive video-sound installations enable audiences to direct their experiences through body motion or voice, and his live performances and media façades present ultra high-definition video projections controlled by live music, sound, or body gesture. His most recent work includes large architectural projections based on the symbolism of fire and water, and metal prints resembling road signs that convey issues of morality, sustainability and ontology. Ritter’s work has been exhibited throughout North America, Europe and Asia, including SITE Santa Fe (USA), Winter Olympics 2010 Cultural Olympiad (Vancouver), Metrònom (Barcelona), Sonambiente Sound Festival (Berlin), Exit Festival (Paris), Ars Electronica Festival (Linz), and New Music America (New York City). His most widely exhibited work is Intersection (1993/2019), an interactive sound installation that has been experienced by 700,000 viewers in eight countries. During his