Kristoffer Ørum
A portraitist. None of the portraits are of him.
Most of it was built on other people's work.
Local. Copenhagen and Aarhus, mostly.
The machines are collaborators and cannot be credited.
Not local. Boston, Vancouver, Riga, Kraków, Oberhausen, San Francisco.
Some of it only exists as a photograph now.
The work referenced Gustave Courbet's 1866 painting "L'Origine du monde", which was kept hidden behind a curtain for over a century. Sucker Trick, 2017
A sink was reconstructed containing pasta, while spaghetti was modelled from FIMO clay. Invisible Objects, 2016
Rather than simply discussing these themes, the performance stages a series of unstable software experiments and semi-fictional narratives, creating a situation that is deliberately out of the performer's control. It Sings for Us of What We Might Become, 2019
The work takes up how electronic systems constantly push at our understanding of who we are, our history and context, suggesting that their constant misunderstanding provides opportunities to see the world with fresh eyes. Feathered Misconceptions, 2018
The familiar backdrop of urban life became part of the work, framing the reimagined objects and frozen scenes within the flow of daily routines. Mundane Heroics, 2019
What emerges is a narrative of the self that is both enacted and undermined by an indifferent system — an algorithmic account of personality, filtered through the lenses of psychology, technology and cultural expectation. AutoBiography, 2011
The exhibition was curated by museum inspector Pernille Rom Bruun and featured partnerships between artists and associations including nature conservation, bird watching, boxing, gliding, gymnastics, and rabbit breeding groups. Everyday Heroes, 2019
Especially simulations of destruction are so widespread and credible that one quickly forgets what the original physical phenomena looked like. Melting State, 2020
The exhibition contributed to ongoing discussions about AI, storytelling, and alternative histories. Mr. Spray, 2024
At the same time, these messages were automatically sent to random email addresses in the local Amager area near the gallery. City Planning, 2010
By naming the work after the processor used to create it, Ørum draws attention to the material infrastructure of digital media while simultaneously questioning the boundaries between virtual and physical experience. Coffee Lake, 2019
Using AI, familiar sites are transformed into speculative visions, such as Karolinelunden as a DIY amusement park or Aalborg Shipyard taken over by its workers. Aalborg Is The Future, 2024
The project treats these everyday activities as data sources capable of producing narratives, insights, and imaginative associations. Day to Day Data, 2008
The project began with an unusual anecdote: "I look down into the shopping bag at some beetroots. Putins Nose, 2018
The collaboration process involved both artists visiting associations for fieldwork and associations visiting the museum for workshop days that became the foundation for the exhibited artworks. Everyday Heroes, 2019
Biographical material such as family photographs from their suburban childhoods is merged into an endless series of alternative life stories. AutoBiography, 2011
The project examined the invasive signal crayfish species, cataloguing its chemical communication abilities in comparison to human technologies like Wi-Fi. Signal_Crayfish, 2021
Geometric shapes emerge from the boxes, forming a complex sculptural environment. In a Dark Room/a Storm in a Coffee Cup, 2004
Retired factory workers repurpose their technical knowledge to build speakers and maintain audio infrastructure, passing skills across generations. Even the City Dreams of Being Another, 2025
It continues a line of work on identity, architecture and urban development begun in At the Edge I (Copenhagen, 2024), now more firmly rooted in Malmö’s local context. Even the City Dreams of Being Another, 2025
The video combines humor, science fiction, and speculative narratives in a single continuous run through unusual and imaginative topics. Search for Carrot ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence, 2006
The installation ran on a standard computer connected to a screen in the exhibition space. Auto Navigate My History, 2014
The screens displayed a new page every few minutes, allowing both visitors to the medieval church and local citizens passing through the square to encounter the rewritten history. Roskilde Parahistory, 2009
A Subjective History of Gdańsk is a hallucinatory and subjective presentation of the city of Gdańsk in Poland, a place historically shaped by competing ideologies that have repeatedly renamed and reconstructed it. A Subjective History of Gdańsk, 2011
The exhibition Coming From took place from 23 August to 14 September 2014, with an opening on 22 August. Auto Navigate My History, 2014
The artists sent unsolicited emails to residents of the Ballehage area warning of an epidemic of Involuntary Tessellation and offering cures with a link to tessellax.com, a fake medical website based on an altered AIDS treatment site. The Ballehage Woman, 2009
The project was mentioned in reviews for its role in public debates on landscape restoration and climate adaptation. Djurs Øhav, 2020
To understand it, I placed a digital version of myself—a puppet with my face and a clone of my voice—in front of various AIs. Speaker 1, 2026
Visitors encountered these figures both inside the museum and in everyday spaces, such as the local supermarket, where baguettes from the freezer section served as swords. Game Continent, 2010
Watershed is an online art project about the algorithmic gaze in an era of digital news. Watershed, 2025
They function as my avatars on social networks in an ongoing performative investigation. None of These Images Are of Me, 2025
A local newspaper printed an account of a witness encounter with The Ballehage Woman, sponsored by tessellax.com as advertising disguised as news. The Ballehage Woman, 2009
Listening Without Ears consists of 3D printed copies of everyday objects that transcribe what is said in the exhibition space and print it out. Listening Without Ears, 2019
Ørum's contribution used algorithmic depth estimation to analyse one of the recovered photographs and generate a three-dimensional interpretation. Depth Estimation, 2019
There is a creative pleasure in this surrender of control: in letting a system run and being surprised by the strange, poetic, or nonsensical landscapes that result. Watershed, 2025
The launch (December 7, 2024) consisted of a performative city walk, a community meal, and a concert with Christian Høgh, organized with f.eks. and supported by multiple cultural partners. Aalborg Is The Future, 2024
Running small, open systems on one’s own hardware provides a degree of autonomy and technological self-determination. None of These Images Are of Me, 2025
But there is now a third gaze, one that works through calculation. Speaker 1, 2026
Participants could literally become a nose by borrowing a nose-shaped mask with a built-in audio guide for a walk in the area around Lokale. According to the Nose, 2021
The Danish Arts Foundation's support enabled the presentation of the work in Vermont, introducing international digital art practices to the local community. Mundane Monsters, 2022