Juneau Projects - The Čapexagon Series

Juneau Projects - Čapexagon 03 (Lickey Hills)

2011

Formed in 2001, Phil Duckworth and Ben Sadler's work as Juneau Projects spans painting, sculpture, installation, music and sound. Through their work they seek to explore the relationships between the technological, social and natural worlds. Their work ties together a curious mixture of backward-looking folk and craft tradition with a forward-looking engagement with technology. We frequently find the apocalyptic lurking nearby.

The Čapexagon Series saw the artists trying to paint landscapes en plein air using robotic arms. The arms are controlled by a laptop, limiting the time they can spend painting to the battery life of their computers.

The set up also allows them to negotiate the dynamics of working together to produce paintings as a duo: 

"The system was initially conceived by us in an attempt to consider some of the aspects that are involved in producing paintings as a duo. There is a constant act of translation that takes place between us when we are painting and, with the Čapexagon works, this process is physically manifested in the robotic arm.

The marks produced by the robotic arm are also in opposition to the perceived ideas of robots being utilised to produce precise mechanical results. The arm is awkward and imprecise, rendering our interpretations of landscapes as near-abstract images. "

Ull Hohn - Paintings

Untitled,

Oil on canvas, 1993

Predominately making work from the early 80's, Ull Hohn was a German artist living and working in New York. As a student at the Dusseldorf Academy he studied under Gerhard Richter who was a professor there at the time. 

Hohn's position as a painter can be understood as a reaction to approach of his notorious tutor. Often choosing to paint kitsch landscapes; Hohn connects motifs and formal tropes used by Richter in his paintings with formula's used by the TV painting instructor Bob Ross. Hohn warps the distinction between high brow and low-brow art by constructing by perversely generic and romantic compositions by following specific painting techniques. Hohn's paintings become unsettlingly close to genuine hobbyist landscapes however attempt to maintain a critical position in relation to contemporary art. 

"Hohn displays no interest in either overcoming the influence of the teacher or trafficking in the prestige of his formation. Rather, he exacerbates the overbearing pedagogical influence by rerouting it onto a substitute (an amateurization of Richter which brings him down to a level below even what is encompassed by the term 'deskilling)."  Sanchez, Michael. ’How‐To Paunt Project’

Tan Enamel,

modeling paste and paint on canvas, 1993

Untitled,

Oil on canvas, 1993