Self Portrait - rAndom International

SELF PORTRAIT

Nothing is Permanent

No matter the media, a portrait usually captures a personal moment in time. 
In the work of rAndom International, while the designers capture a fleeting, freeze-framed moment via their Temporary Printing Machine installations, the image presents itself, then fades into oblivion - never to be seen again.

As the blank canvas is studied by the viewer, meaning is pondered. Within moments, viewer and object converge as the viewer's likeness, as if by magic, is transferred onto the blank space.
initially feeling exhilaration at the thought of being in collaboration with the artist - the feeling soon dissolves - as the image, gradually fading from view, returns the canvas back to its original pristine state. Past and present coalesce in memory.

From rAndom International website:

"The installation questions both the traditional concept and content of the portrait as preserving memory through image making. Rather, it creates an elusive presence of entropy. A self-portrait now becomes a profoundly self-reflexive experience which then illuminates the poignancy of the lost moment. The piece follows an aesthetic of presence and erasure that rAndom has been developing over time through a variety of Temporary Printing Machine installations. A permanent piece has been installed at the BMW HQ in Munich, and different iterations have been shown in the V&A and Scope Art Fair in Miami Beach in 2006. In 2009, rAndom‘s ‘Study For A Mirror’ was accessioned into the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

‘Self Portrait’ has been developed with the generous support of Incubator, which is an alternative platform to initiate and develop new work. ‘Self Portrait’ is the first in a series of special projects that rAndom and Incubator are working on and was inaugurated at rAndom‘s Designer Of The Future exhibition at Design Miami / Basel 2010".

Self Portrait - Design Miami / Basel 2010 from rAndom International on Vimeo.