Puente

Working with the objects of daily life, Damian Ortega makes the ordinary looks extraordinary in sculptures, installations, videos, and photographs, especially in those related to architecture, such as his towers made of toasted tortillas, or the sculpture of an arch made of chairs and the photographs of other "still-life" arrangements he made of these same pieces of furniture, both in Inhotim collection. These are the works of an artist not constrained by the limits of money, space or property. They were made from the well-worn, castoff furniture in his apartment. By constantly reworking these elements into new forms, Ortega demonstrates the wealth of invention that is the currency of the creative mind. By appropriating the language of societal order that architecture embodies, Ortega strips those forms of both their utility and their economic power. He seems to be challenging the complex technical, economic and societal assumptions by which it is determined who gets to build what and why. And by doing so with humor, the artist positions his work and his constant constructive play as a kind of cultural biography, as well as social commentary.