Odo Hans

CATALOG

Printed and always identical. The principle of technical reproducibility makes it possible. In this project, my catalog “Name” becomes the blank, the starting material. The end becomes the beginning of entirely new ideas. The brochure comprising illustrations of bodies becomes the body, upon which one can encroach, which can be injured, decorated and designed. Real nudes, which, in this format, turn the copy into a work of its own. Catalog is composed of various sub-projects. Skulp / Sketchbook / Ink / Explode (work in progress)

Skulp/I

Scratching, burning, staining. Skin as medium of alteration. The catalog as sculpture. My catalog “Name” from 2016 depicts partial excerpts of the human body. As a block of paper, in this work it is the starting material for my sculptural interventions. Deeper-lying layers are touched by means of burning and abrading. Eyes move through gaps or disappear entirely. Exposed deep structures and superficialscratch marks open the closed system Body. The two-dimensional image becomes a three-dimensional structure. The associative space is expanded into the depth. Husk-like, mutilated, shot. These encroachments appear as an attack on human intactness and, alongside the spatial, lend the image a temporal dimension. A story arises, which, anchored spatially in the brochure, reflects the aggression of the intervention.

Skulp/II

Scratching, burning, staining. Skin as medium of alteration. The catalog as sculpture. My catalog “Name” from 2016 depicts partial excerpts of the human body. As a block of paper, in this work it is the starting material for my sculptural interventions. Deeper-lying layers are touched by means of burning and abrading. Eyes move through gaps or disappear entirely. Exposed deep structures and superficialscratch marks open the closed system Body. The two-dimensional image becomes a three-dimensional structure. The associative space is expanded into the depth. Husk-like, mutilated, shot. These encroachments appear as an attack on human intactness and, alongside the spatial, lend the image a temporal dimension. A story arises, which, anchored spatially in the brochure, reflects the aggression of the intervention.

WHAT ELSE

WHAT ELSE is the continuation and reshaping of my photographic work „The Line and the Dot“ and „Human Surfaces“. In this case „The Line and the Dot“ and „Human Surfaces“ are forming the physical raw material that initiates the artistic design process. The scalpel exposes partial snippets of these individual tissues and textures. Material to create a new face.
A face, or the cutout of a face that reduced to its elements, challenges the viewer to imagine the creature behind it. The human eye is in the focus. Will be rearranged, relocated to human texture and thus removed from its origin. And yet the arrangements tempt to identify with the unknown, in whose world the order seems to be another. Strange, but strangely familiar.

“This is a pretty unique take on photographic collage – so few elements, scrappily captured and combined, to create a new face; the nose and mouth not present, but uncannily, undeniably ‘there’ in the furrows of shaved hair. In an age where appearance is foremost, and where the volume of imagery can be overwhelming, Odo destroys convention and reassembles simple elements to create something both ugly and beautiful, anonymous and characterful. It’s a reductionist approach that is refreshing and engaging, and oddly alive.” – Life Framer