Signs of Life

Signs of Life
Karl Orozco

Exhibition: September 20-October 25, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, October 4, 5-8pm 
Artist Talk: Friday, October 25th, 6-7pm

Sanitary Tortilla Factory is pleased to present Signs of Life, a video installation by Karl Orozco. The installation considers the life cycles of the urban landscape through a study of abandoned roadside signs. Since moving to Albuquerque in the summer of 2020, Orozco has photographed, mapped, and archived over 100 out-of-use signs across the state of New Mexico. He recreates these signs using the 3D modeling and animation software Blender as an attempt to crystallize these monuments in the condition they were originally seen. Each sign is animated to exist in a perpetual state between death and rebirth, and together, their collective symbolism conjures visions of the afterlife.

Orozco’s two-channel video projection alternates between dozens of signs composed in a landscape view and paired, close and intimate views of alike signs. Inspired by the rebirth process as described in The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Orozco’s slow, meditative animations ask the viewer to consider the pattern and repetition present in the manufactured world. The animations are accompanied by a synth soundtrack produced in collaboration with musician and electrician Drew Miller. This installation includes a series of benches playing with the form and scale of signage that ask viewers to consider the relationship of creator and creation between human and manmade, functional objects. This project is supported by the Fulcrum Fund, a grant program of 516 ARTS made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Meow Wolf Foundation.

Artist Bio

Karl Orozco repurposes broken and abandoned communication tools such as printers and road signs and inventively reutilizes these objects to create vibrant prints, dynamic animations, and immersive installations. Central to Orozco’s work is an exploration of these devices when they fall silent, no longer able to convey a message, and breathes new life into objects that have outlived their intended purpose. Each video or print is a record of the life cycles of these machines, offering viewers a glimpse into the intricate interplay between obsolescence and renewal. His work revolves around the concepts of death and rebirth. By granting new utilities to objects beyond their intended functionality, Orozco explores the potential inherent in the discarded elements of our manufactured landscape.