Deep Space Ornamentation

Deep Space Ornamentation is a sequence of eight silkscreen prints and one nonrepresentational sculpture. The silkscreens on canvas consist of enlarged labels from 12 inch and 7 inch vinyl records from the Detroit techno and house scene of the period 1981 – 1991. All the labels have kept the original graphic contour, but with slight distortions such as altered color profiles. The silkscreens can be perceived as an acknowledgment of a fundamental mental and inspirational material for the artist, namely the interface between funk and futurism with this repetitive and synthesized music from this particular scene represented. Early Detroit techno artists employed science fiction imagery to articulate visions of a transformed society, and using mainly Japanese-made electronic instruments, they promoted ideas such as erotic emotions, space travel, Afrofuturism and anti-authoritarian strategies. This exhibition is an abstract tribute to the beauty of the movement.

Henrik Plenge Jakobsen was born in 1967 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he continues to live and work. Jakobsen uses a range of media, including performance, video and installation. His practice explores the capabilities and limitations of our spectacular culture. Plenge Jakobsen has exhibited and performed for the last 25 years in artist run spaces, galleries, biennales and museums worldwide. Recent exhibitions include Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris; Galleri ZK, Berlin; The Suburban, Oak Park, Chicago; FRAC Pays de la Loire, Carquefou; Moderna Museet, Stockholm ;Musee d’Art Contemporain, Lyon; CAC, Vilnius; Stedjeliik Museum, Amsterdam; Frankfuter Kunstverien, Frankfurt; ICA – Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, United Kingdom, and Palais de Tokyo, Paris. Plenge Jakobsen studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1987-94, Ecole Nationale Supérieur des Beaux Arts and Institut des Hautes Etudes en Art plastique, Paris, France, from 1992-93.