Yoga / Lakes (2017)

Overview

Cory Arcangel is a post-conceptual artist who works with a variety of media, including computer-generated works encompassing installation, video, print and music composition. Exploring different approaches to working with technology, Arcangel experiments with hacking, coding, modifying software, manipulating video games and designing web pages. He also creates specially branded consumer content.

In his ‘Lakes’ series, Arcangel applies the Java applet ‘lake’ to various digital images, creating a shimmering, seemingly liquid reflection along a horizontal axis. The effect resembles what was regularly seen on personal websites in the late 1990s; as such, it can be viewed as a commentary on how quickly the aesthetics of the digital realm change. Yoga / Lakes (2017) displays a pop culture image of a woman in a yoga pose. Displayed on a flat-screen television turned to the side, the work is considered a form of painting by the artist. It offers the viewer a meditative pause amidst the digital chaos of other works in Art in the Age of Anxiety.