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"In Site" by Karl Burkheimer
Disjecta
Portland, Oregon
"In Site" by Karl Burkheimer
Disjecta
Portland, Oregon
2011

Drawing from a wide range of interests and influences including extensive travel in the Middle East, design and construction of Japanese tea houses, and the utter love of making, Burkheimer’s project for Disjecta is his most ambitious work to date.

Burkheimer's sculptural installation will essentially occupy the entire cavernous 3500 square foot gallery space. Its sheer size would leave little room for an audience, however In Site addresses the nature of experience by becoming the very ground one walks upon. The explicit functions of the gallery, of artwork even, are turned inside out as the piece becomes the environment without adhering to doctrines of performance or purpose. In Site takes the form of a giant, planked walkway, a ramp, a barrier, yet the work suggests an unknown or esoteric use and results in an object that challenges associations and expectations of image, object, and architecture. The haptic experience of the viewer will ultimately complete the piece.

Read the review by John Motley here: www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2011/0…