Project 1: Process
Gabriel Orozco

Content:
1. An overall characterization of the artist’s work by briefly describing the work and summarizing the artist’s concerns and intentions.

Long without a studio space, Gabriel Orozco literally works in the world employing everyday objects with sculpture and photography. When travelling from place to place, even within Orozco’s hometown of Manhattan, he is always keeping his eyes open for natural phenomena, compositions created within the world that strike him, “the catch in consciousness when mind and body merge in a state of praise for existence, just as it is” (PETER 2009). He finds a way to engage with the found materials that animates his personality and his opinions. Objects found within his trajectory often become materials, inspiration or subject. Orozco wants people to notice the inanimate, to observe and investigate the world around us. He has a clever sense of humor as seen in Cats and Watermelon. While out shopping with his wife Orozco arranges cat food cans on top of watermelons in the produce department. He photographed the arrangement and it looks as if the cats have watermelon bodies. Orozco is interested not as interested with what the viewer sees in the gallery “but what people see after looking at these things, how they confront reality again” Gabriel Orozco). At the Venice Biennial in 1993 Orozco displayed an empty shoebox on the floor of an otherwise empty room. Outside of the gallery the shoebox gets little attention, rather ignored and left in a closet for most of its’ life. Empty Shoebox demands attention to the things that we don’t often pay attention to. His work promotes awareness of materiality that is both literally and ontologically contingent.” It isn’t meant to be social or political commentary; he reputes expectations of the artist to be a public figure. His intentions are never specific, however certain themes are consistent in his images. Circles have a soft spot in Orozco art, we see the organic form come up over and over again in his work; Atomist: Making Stride, Samurai tree, Yogurt Cups etc.

1. Explain the specific way the artist’s work engages/defines the project issue in question using specific artworks to exemplify.

Orozco’s art comes directly from everyday occurrences in life, through travel and observation. He said “it has always been important not to have a studio, not to have a permanent assistant.” He engages in process alone; it is not a group activity but an individual exploration. His works embody this idea thematically, the process of seeing. Orozco tries to stay open minded and available for experiences that direct his influences and eventually lead him to subjects matter for his pieces, “the subject leads you to the medium, and then the medium is your way to resolve your relationship with that subject.” (Gabriel, 2011). This type of investigation leads to long periods of trial and error, Orozco appreciates the mistakes, a visual documentation of the process he has embarked on. In a piece called Working Tables, Orozco displayed a variety of items for which he had multiple intentions. There were prototypes; unfinished beginnings and others were found objects that he kept for inspiration. This piece presents the viewer with works that were/are in progress as its completion, acknowledging his commitment to the process. Photography is a very important component to Orozco’s work. Orozco wants the viewer to experience “the total vision…in order to understand the possible dimensions” of a piece. Photography is a valuable medium to him because it can vividly portray many dimensions. “Instead of having a sketchbook [he] captures things with his camera” (Orozco). His pictures are versatile, “some are more like sculpture, some are painterly many are just plain photos that are closer to documentary photography” (Orozco).