Engineering explorations
by Josephine Fenge Birk Nielsen
With a background in mechanical and energy engineering, the Greek artist George Koutsouris utilizes principles of science, engineering, and acoustics to create art. He explores the coexistence of chaos and order in society, rooted in a wish to understand the impact of machining human behavior in contemporary culture.
In his artworks, George Koutsouris mainly uses low-tech industrial materials and devices such as mechanical components, strings, motors, and everyday objects to create sculptures and installations involving motion and interaction with the spectator, who eventually becomes part of the artwork.
The wall piece ‘White falls’ (2016) is an example of the artist’s avid examination of the structures of society. The piece consists of a machine that explores the transition from order to chaos through motion and sound. An electric motor forces the work in a rotating motion, lifting five white tennis balls from the bottom to the top in a loop. Arriving at the top, the balls are pulled down again by gravity. Moving from bottom to top and down again the tennis balls follow unpredictable paths, nevertheless their destinies are easy to predict. Meanwhile, the sound of the tennis balls making their way to the bottom, hitting the metal-sticks on their way, creates an almost electronic underlying soundtrack to the meditative visual image.
By using a simpel vocabulary, George Koutsouris breathes new life into the concept of the static sculpture life, opening up a new door to the beauty of human made industrial media.
CV
George Koutsouris (b. 1983) lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark
Education
Currently studying Visual Arts, at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark
Graduated BSc Mechanical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens in 2004
Graduated MSc Energy Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens in 2008
Graduated MSc Acoustics from Technical University of Denmark in 2011
Selected Exhibitions
2016 Galleri Q, Copenhagen, solo exhibition
2016 rundgang, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
2016 music of suspended elements, PULSAR music festival, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen