Critically acclaimed California Conceptualist Paul Kos sums up his practice in terms as elegant, simple, and understated as his wide-ranging work: “Materials can be both form and content.” With his sparkling, sly wit, focus on the unique physical qualities of the materials with which he works, and mastery of associative logic, Kos imbues humble objects, sounds, and actions with deep significance. He has transformed faceless cuckoo clocks into former Soviet republics and a wooden broom into a poetic meditation upon the precariousness of perfect equilibrium. In Chartres Bleu (1982-86), one of his most famous works, Kos condensed 12 hours of light passing through a stained glass window at Chartres Cathedral into a 12-minute video, which played on 27 video monitors stacked in the same arched shape as the window.
Critically acclaimed California Conceptualist Paul Kos sums up his practice in terms as elegant, simple, and understated as his wide-ranging work: “Materials can be both form and content.” With his sparkling, sly wit, focus on the unique physical qualities of the materials with which he works, and mastery of associative logic, Kos imbues humble objects, sounds, and actions with deep significance. He has transformed faceless cuckoo clocks into former Soviet republics and a wooden broom into a poetic meditation upon the precariousness of perfect equilibrium. In Chartres Bleu (1982-86), one of his most famous works, Kos condensed 12 hours of light passing through a stained glass window at Chartres Cathedral into a 12-minute video, which played on 27 video monitors stacked in the same arched shape as the window.
