Mike Kelley 13

Jennifer Steinkamp, American, born 1958

2008

installation

digital projection

Museum purchase with funds provided by Contemporary Forum (ArtPick 2008)

2008.320

© Phoenix Art Museum. All rights reserved. Photo by Ken Howie.

Contemporary

No

Mike Kelley 13 is named for Jennifer Steinkamp’s teacher and fellow contemporary artist Mike Kelley. It represents a wind-blown tree changing with the seasons, but was digitally constructed on a computer without the use of existing images. The projection appears three-dimensional and creates the illusion of depth on the flat wall. This mesmerizing portrayal of a natural element plays on the boundary between the physically real and the virtually possible. Steinkamp has been a pioneer in digital animation since the early 1990s. She defines herself as an installation artist who works with projected digital media in order to explore architectural space, motion, and perception. Constantly moving, Mike Kelley 13 has no beginning or end and mimics the relentless shifts of both nature and technology.