The immersion in virtual worlds has become an integral part of various areas of life that confront us with an altered and expanded reality. The boundaries between physical and virtual space are increasingly blurred. It is this phenomenon that the artist MONOCOLOR addresses in his work SCREEN—SPACE, which he created especially for the State Gallery of Lower Austria.
In his works, MONOCOLOR, alias Marian Essl (*1993), who grew up in the Lower Austrian city of Klosterneuburg, explores the intersection of sound, image, light, and space. In the completely darkened exhibition space, the artist transports the audience into a universe of algorithmically generated images and sounds that can be experienced physically, sensorially, and emotionally.
With SCREEN—SPACE, the artist MONOCOLOR addresses to the museum’s distinct architecture and at the same time causes it to disappear through a virtual world of constantly evolving sonic and visual structures. The virtual spaces that emerge change their form, solidify, and dissipate again. In this expansive work, the visitors are surrounded by a continuously transforming cloud of image and sound.
In this world, everything is limited to shades of gray. “The deliberate omission of color allows me to focus on other aspects of my visual worlds, such as speed and texture,” explains Marian Essl. Through a large number of loudspeakers, sonic gestures can be located that permeate the space, at times in symbiosis with the projected images and at times as a counterpoint to them.
Marian Essl’s sonic and visual worlds are based on algorithms, with random processes playing an important role. The artist designs generative procedures that produce sonic or visual outcomes, evaluates them, and then intervenes in the process again. Through this way of working, feedback loops between artist and algorithm emerge, whereby image and sound are regarded as equally important components.
For the artist, the immediate and physical impact of the sounds and images is of crucial importance. The viewer’s perception and the virtual world have a mutual influence on each other and are interconnected.
Marian Essl’s audiovisual installations and performances have been presented at renowned international institutions and at festivals in Canada, Japan, Korea, and Europe. The show at the State Gallery of Lower Austria is his first museum exhibition.
The exhibition SCREEN—SPACE was realized in cooperation with the international exchange program AIR – ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Lower Austria.
In 2024, Marian Essl received a scholarship to participate in the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California.
Curator: Klaus Krobath
Video technology: Jakob Hütter
Audio technology: Georg Hartl
MAY 3 2024: Opening – Landesgalerie Niederösterreich – Krems AT
MAY 4 2024 – NOV 10 2024: Landesgalerie Niederösterreich – Krems AT
MAY 4 2024 – NOV 10 2024: Landesgalerie Niederösterreich – Krems AT
→ SCREEN—SPACE
