The title Applied Fiction is a summation of both their work and their collective selves; it hints at a dialogical practice, one that constantly evolves out of contradictions in their perceptions of reality. The phrase ‘applied fiction’ seems both congruous and oxymoronic depending on how fiction itself is defined, and it is this aspect that induces irony and wit that pervades their work. In another sense it could also refer to the fictional power of technology – the capacity for technology to penetrate all aspect of everyday life and become a ubiquitous apparatus of our imaginations. As critic Peppino Ortoleva writes in his essay on the artists, what unites their work is a feeling rather than a style. It is the sense perception of the contemporary art audience that is called to the fore and engaged with through their installations.
The term ‘encounter’ seems most appropriate when describing one’s first experience of the curious, fantastic and yet oddly-familiar beings that Pors & Rao make. These ‘living objects’ invite the audience into their experiential realm, not merely to see or even witness, but to coexist and share in their reality.
Functionality is key to Pors & Rao’s practice – however this is not about technology but about the evocative potential of objects animated through the use of technology. It is the functional aspect that gives these creatures their personalities and enlivens them – they are recognizably shy, anxious, enthusiastic, sad, or jumpy. It is in the movement, in the speed and in the sounds that their reality is created – a reality that might seem like fictions-at-work, fictions applied to the rules of perceived reality. Their works, as described by the artists themselves, are “a personal exploration of subtle unconscious patterns and limitations that influence our behavioursand relationships; and the applied fiction or imaginative logic that makes them seem logical. The resulting work can be idiosyncratic, but still logical on its own terms.”
About the artists:
Aparna Rao (1978, India) and Søren Pors (1974, Denmark) crossed paths in 2002, during a two year research scholarship study in Italy at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, Italy. In 2004, the two began to work collaboratively, and have since developed a multi-disciplinary art practice involving mechanical and electronic engineering, programming and manufacturing processes. In 2009 they began showing their early works at The Expanded Box, ARCO, Madrid, Spain; Indian Highway curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Julia Peyton-Jones and Gunnar Kvaran at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway; and at the 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, curated by Raiji Kuroda, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan.
Since then the duo has focused on developing new works. Applied Fiction is their first ever solo exhibition and after being exhibited in New Delhi it will travel to Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos in Spain in May 2011. Pors & Rao have also been recently awarded the Metamatic Research Initiative by the Amsterdam based non-profit organization All Art Initiatives to realize their longstanding interactive installation Nisse TV.
