Random International
Year of birth, place
Groups
Biography
Florian Ortkrass born 1975, Rheda-Wiedenbruck,Germany. Graduated from Brunel University in 2002 and Royal College of Art in 2005.
Hannes Koch born 1975, Hamburg Germany. Graduated from Brunel University in 2002 and Royal College of Art in 2004.
Art Group »Random International« run a collaborative studio for experimental practice within contemporary art. Founded in 2005 by Hannes Koch and Florian Ortkrass, today they work with larger teams of diverse and complementary talent out of studios in London and Berlin.
Questioning aspects of identity and autonomy in the post-digital age, the group’s work invites active participation. »Random International« explores the human condition in an increasingly mechanised world through emotional yet physically intense experiences. The artists aim to prototype possible behavioural environments by experimenting with different notions of consciousness, perception, and instinct.
Their work »Rain Room« is in the collection of Los Angeles County Museum of Art having been exhibited under the museum’s historic Art and Technology initiative. The artwork has also been shown at the YUZ Museum in Shanghai (2015), the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), and London's Barbican (2012). An edition of »Rain Room« has become the first permanently installed artwork at the Sharjah Art Foundation (UAE) and is housed in its own building.
In 2017, their work »Zoological« debuted at London’s Roundhouse as part of Wayne McGregor’s »+/- Human«. The group's work has also formed part of the Lichtsicht Biennale (2015), Ruhrtriennale (2013), and Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2011). »Random International: Everything and Nothing« was on show at the Yuz Museum, Shanghai in 2018. Prior solo presentations of their work have been exhibited at Lunds konsthall, Sweden (2014), Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Paris (2012), and Pace Gallery, New York (2016). Their work is in the collections of MoMA, Sharjah Art Foundation, YUZ Museum, LACMA and V&A, where their »Swarm Study / III« is on long-term display.