Works on Display at DTHRR

DTHRR showcases six captivating works by Entroplay (Armon Naeini) and Vohu Mana (Usman Jamil), exploring the convergence of analog and digital techniques.

Entroplay’s interactive installations and AR/XR experiences delve into identity and chaos, transforming the halftone patterns of print into dynamic, light-based visuals. His works invite viewers to engage with shifting perceptions of self through real-time digital interactions.

Vohu Mana combines design engineering and digital art to craft video-driven LED installations that merge precision with play. His immersive works reinterpret halftones as vibrant landscapes of color and movement, reflecting the harmony of form and function.

Presented across screens iterating through a diverse range of visuals, the six pieces bridge the tactile and the digital, offering a sensory exploration of ink, pixel, surface, and screen.

Artists Bio:

Armon Naeini (Entroplay) is a multimedia artist, creative technologist, and educator. His work navigates the paradox of embodiment and dissociation through the augmentation of self-image. Armon produces interactive installations, AR/XR experiences, real-time visuals, and experimental software to explore the relationship between identity and chaos.

Usman Jamil (Vohua Mana) is a design engineer and artist based in Brooklyn. Through design and the art of engineering, he explores the space between play and work, form and function. Usman seeks to integrate his many skills through video art, dance music, andinstallation work into a broader narrative of humans in the digital age.

The International Risograph Coalition, a combined action by Can Can Press (CDMX) & Secret Riso Club (NY), is an initiative that brings together artists, designers, and Riso studios to create a community of sharing and mutually beneficial practices. The IRC activities include workshops, pop-ups and collaborations that celebrate the spirit of independent publishing and use of Risograph which connects across borders and cultures.  Pushing against capitalist principles that breed competition and whisper notes of scarcity, the ethos of the alliance is that one cannot do this work alone and are better together, with a growing network of supporters, collaborators and friends.

For the past seven years, Secret Riso Club and Can Can Press have grown their practices in New York and Mexico City respectively. Both born from the idea of growing a creative art practice that centers art and design, connects with community and embraces experimentation, the parallel practices have met at many intersections.

The plates are produced in a limited edition of 6+ap, with each plate being unique due to the long process of making them. The process begins with taking the photographs, mainly on 35mm film, which are then transformed into 1:1 negatives. These images are delicately printed onto the Bisque ware plates using cyanotype method. This process ensures that each plate becomes unique for a distinct interplay of variables, ranging from the subtle idiosyncrasies of the ceramic surface to nuanced factors like exposure duration and chemical mix. 

In 2021 Levy started taking photographs of food; Her subjects ranged from dishes found in restaurants, home-cooked meals, fresh produce from local markets, pastries, and even the bounties of her own garden. Infused with personal narratives, each photograph resonates with memories of gatherings with loved ones or just simple breakfast. By immortalising these snapshots on ceramic plates, Levy elevates the significance of these instances, creating souvenirs-like items from day-to-day events.

The distinct Prussian Blue hues, of the cyanotype printing on ceramics, corresponds with traditional Chinese porcelain ware or “fine china”, which are common collectable items that usually depicts beautiful nature scenes. A nuance surfaces as Levy's photographes of pizza slices or English breakfasts against this backdrop of refined blue ceramics, creating an interplay of contrasts that adds a bit of humour to the photographic series.

The name Blue Plate Special draws from the Diners in North America where the term 'Blue Plate Special' means Today's Special or Dish of the Day.

The BPS installation is a site-specific exhibition featuring six plates arranged on a dining table with a white tablecloth and silverware. Additionally, three plates are displayed on the wall, and one plate is positioned on a plinth. Each of the ten has a unique print.

Born in 1991, Youvalle Levy is an artist, photographer, and the co-founder of Replika Publishing.

After studying photography at BTK Berlin and architecture at Universität der Künste, Youvalle developed an interest in urbanism, exploring the beauty found in the abandoned and ignored aspects of everyday life. Her diverse body of work spans photobooks, installations, printmaking, video, and ceramics. Each piece invites viewers to reconsider their surroundings and appreciate the often-overlooked elements of urban environments.

An ongoing monthly collaboration with Ceci Sturman & Hannah Pruzinsky 
Designed, printed & published by Secret Riso Club

GUNK is eternally collaborative and thrives on community.  We always have an open call for submissions (shows, design, feature writers, photography, distribution, you name it!) and those get directed to︎︎︎ thegunkyard@gmail.com

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2024