Oyster

Ophelia S. Chan (b. 1985 Hong Kong, China) has a background in new media art and theatre, her works primarily consist of sculptures, videos and installations. Oliver Haidutschek (b.1976 Villach, Austria) is a painter and a digital artist, he formerly worked under the alias - Aoto Oouchi between 2011 and 2015. They formed OOCH in 2014.

In their new series of works, industrial and human elements are employed to explore the tactile, sensual and emotional relationship between object and man, as well as the notion of interaction between objects beyond the perception of man of both physical and metaphysical nature. Through the intuitive and intimate working process between the artists and their materials, the paintings, sculptures and installation in Oyster are simultaneously alien and familiar. They are objects made to trigger human responses when interacted with, while amongst themselves endure a different kind of dialogue between tension and harmony.

Reflecting on Graham Harman’s The Third Table, in which the philosopher defines a table that is in-between the two common reductions of itself - one as scientifically explained in protons, electrons and neutrons; and the other as a daily object encountered by man. Oyster is an embodiment of the contemplations that shape this exhibition, where the oyster is neither a bivalve mollusk nor a delicacy but an object capable of provoking desire through its own being.