english

For the last five years I have been working on a body of work that is based on a machine I built called Dual-Axis Precision Deposition System, or plopper. The machine primarily fabricates sculptures, but occasionally also produces prints, drawings, and films. The sculptures begin as digital drawings created with computer-aided-design (CAD) software that are then fabricated through a custom computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) process. The plopper, a hacked architectural plotter, first deposits sand, then drops resin onto the landscape of sand building the sculpture layer by layer. While similar to 3D printing, the technique surrenders the control implied in the CAD and CAM processes and, as the resin seeps through the sand following the path of least resistance, embraces the fluidity and unpredictability of the materials. I hope that the work feels speculative, unstable and immediate.

I like to think of the plopper as the bad conscience of formal idealism – a kind of low-res 3D printer that, as Martin Beck in his essay in my recently published book Serial Nature notices, “translates the smart, trim, wonderfully ideal numbers, points, lines, and algorithms into the thick, viscous, cumbersome, and opaque realm of the nexus of matter and reality”. The machine and process are designed to critique contemporary fabrication technology for its premature relationship of the physical to the digital, of virtuality to actuality, and of matter to materiality. While the plopper’s inputs, virtual 3D models and CAD drawings, are regulated by control, precision, and perfection, the machine utilizes chance, imperfection, and the will of matter as a way to overcome determination. Organic and expressive in their nature, the works never leave their diagrammatic origins entirely behind. As a result, the mechanically produced works are both informed and formless.

Often times I think of the plopps as alien spit — a reference to their serial nature, futuristic characteristics, and loose geometric qualities. Simultaneously, the works also read as remnants of some long-deceased civilization, as archeological relics, or as artifacts retrieved from the bottom of an ocean. The title for my recent exhibition at the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University While Still Before Us After All was an attempt to highlight and foreground this contradictory temporal dimension of the work. It was also an effort to render the body of work visible as an acceleration of today – as a dark residue of our current culture and technologically determined existence.

deutsch

Die Klassifikation durch das Medium oder durch die Disziplin an sich betrachte ich als veraltet, als Tod. Mit formeller Ausblindung in den Bereichen der Architecktur sowie bildenden Kuenste, betrachte ich die Welt die uns umgibt weder als schluessig noch kohärent, sondern empfinde sie als reine Collage. In ihr, suche ich nach Unvereinbarkeit, Gegensatz und dem Unreinen, um dem Klaren, dem Disziplinierten, der vorgeschriebenen Identitaet zu entkommem.

Meine Arbeiten beschreiben Untersuchungen abstrakter Autorität, Kontrolle und Disziplin. Systeme sind charakteristisch für meine Werke, deren Symptome befinden sich im Fokus meiner Betrachtung. Innerhalb dieses Rahmens suche ich den kulturellen Diskurs innerhalb und am Rande von Architektur, Malerei, Skulptur und den Computerwissenschaften. Die Crux des Experiments meiner Arbeiten verschmiert die binären Grenzen des Künstlichen und Natürlichen, von Mensch und Maschine sowie Organismus und Individuum.

Die Wechselwirkung von Prozess und Artefakt wird zum ständigen Thema in all meinen Werken, sie adressieren elementare Fragen zur menschlichen Ontologie, Ästhetik sowie zum Empirismus von Kunst und Architektur und der Definition des Objektes as sich. Viele meiner Werke sind von Abstraktion, Sterilität und Kühle geprägt. Sie hinterfragen und suggerieren die Rolle von Objektivität im Subjekt der Arbeit, der bildenden Künste im Allgemeinen, sowie unserer von Wissenschaft durchtrieben Gesellschaft. Durch ihre Performance, Materialität und Konzeption präsentieren die Arbeiten Objektivität und deuten so ein Gefühl von Reinheit und Wahrheit an. Dasselbe wird durch die absolute Subjektivität in der Kreation der Systeme, deren vorgeschriebenes Verhalten und der zugrundeliegenden Autorschaft im weiteren Sinne in Frage gestellt. Diese Zweideutigkeit wird letzen Endes durch die ausführende menschliche Hand und mechanische Geste unterstrichen.

english

Born in Cologne, Germany in 1983, Kai Franz studied architecture at the RWTH Aachen, Germany (2004-2006) and at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland (2006-2008). Early during his studies he started to complement his architectural education with investigations in computer science, exploring its integration in the architectural design process.
After his studies in Zurich, Kai worked as a scientific researcher for ETH’s Chair for Information Architecture. In 2008 he joined the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam, The Netherlands where within the framework of AMO, he sought to find an OMA-specific computational design approach. Subsequently, Kai transferred to the New York office of OMA*AMO where he joined the architectural design team.

In 2009 Kai was nominated as a Fulbright Scholar. The fellowship gave him the chance to expand his critical thinking through the lens of fine art while enrolling in an MFA program at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2009/10.
After his studies in Rhode Island, Kai moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he continued his art practice while also enrolling in the Master program in architecture at Princeton University. He was awarded the 2011 KPF Traveling Fellowship and graduated with honors for exceptional talent and ability in design (Underwood Prize), outstanding service and commitment to the school and professional merit (Alpha Roh Chi Medal) and general academic excellence (Herny Adams Medal) from Princeton in 2012. Today Kai lives and works in Providence, RI and Berlin.

Furthermore, Kai taught from 2007 - 2010 and the ETH Zurich, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, the Rhode Island School of Design and since 2010 at Princeton University. Since 2014 he is an Assitant Professor at RISD, where he teaches Spatial Dynamics within the division of Experimental and Foundation Studies.
Kai Franz exhibited his work in group and solo exhibitions including the "ELO - Electronic Literature Organization", 2010, "Digital Media Biannual" at RISD, 2010, "Pixilerations v.7" 2010 and the "Break It Down" show at RISD, 2011 and most recently at the VFBK Kunst-Raum in Cologne, Germany.

deutsch

Kai Franz wurde 1983 in Köln geboren. Er studierte Architektur an der RWTH Aachen (2004-2006) sowie der ETH Zürich (2006-2008). Während seines Architekturstudiums setzte sich Franz intensiv mit den Computerwissenschaften auseinander und erlernte eigenständig das Programmieren. Hier erforschte er nachdrücklich die Integration der Informatik in den architektonischen Entwurfsprozess.
Nach seinem Studienabschluss in Zürich, arbeitete Kai Franz als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Lehrstuhl für Informationsarchitektur der ETH Zürich. 2008 arbeitete er für das Office for Metropolitan Architecture, wo er im Rahmen von AMO (OMA’s think-tank) das Potential eines OMA-spezifischen computergestützten Entwurfsansatz untersuchte. Hiernach wechselte Franz zum New Yorker Office des Büros und schloss sich dem Designteam von OMA*AMO an.

Seine Nominierung zum Fulbright-Stipendiaten ermöglichte ihm im Jahre 2009/10 das Studium der bildenden Künste an der Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, USA.
Nach seinem Studium in Rhode Island, zog Kai Franz in 2010 nach Princeton, New Jersey, um seine Auseinandersetzung mit der Architektur sowie der bildenden Künste zu vertiefen. Neben der eigenständigen Atlierarbeit studierte er hier auch im Master-Studiengang Architektur an der Princeton University. 2011 erhielt er das KPF Traveling Fellowship. 2012 graduierte er mit Auszeichungen im Bereich Design (Underwood Prize), Engagement in der Architekturhochschule und besonderem professionellen Verdienst (Alpha Roh Chi Medal), sowie akademischer Excelenz (Herny Adams Medal) in Princeton. Momentan lebt und arbeitet Kai Franz in Providence, Rhode Island und Berlin.

Darüber hinaus dozierte Franz von 2007 bis 2010 an den Hochschulen ETH Zürich, McGill University, Montreal, Kanada, der Rhode Island School of Design und seit 2010 an der Princeton University im Bereich der bildenden Künste sowie der Architektur. Seit 2014 is er ein Assistant Professor an der Rhode Island School of Design, wo er im Bereich Spatial Dynamics in der Fakultät für Experimental and Foundation Studies lehrt.
Kai Franz stellte seine Arbeiten in verschiedenen Gruppen- und Einzelausstellungen aus, darunter die "ELO - Electronic Literature Organization", 2010, "Digital Media Biannual" an der Rhode Island School of Design, 2010, "Pixilerations v.7" 2010 und die "Break It Down" show, RISD, 2011, sowie vor Kurzem im Kölner Kunst-Raum des VFBK.

english

Born 1983 in Cologne/Germany.

Today Kai Franz lives and works in Providence, RI and Berlin.

He received undergraduate degrees in architecture from RWTH Aachen (2006), and ETH Zurich (2008). Early on, Kai complemented his architectural education with investigations in computer science, exploring its integration in the architectural design process. After his studies in Zurich Kai worked as a scientific researcher for ETH’s Chair for Information Architecture.

In 2008 he joined the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam, where within the framework of AMO, he sought to find an OMA-specific computational approach to design. Consequently Kai transferred to the New York office of OMA*AMO.

2009 Kai was nominated as a Fulbright Scholar. The fellowship gave him the chance to expand his critical thinking through the lens of fine art while enrolling in an MFA program at the Rhode Island School of Design.

In 2011 he was awarded the KPF Traveling Fellowship and in 2012 he graduated with awards in design, outstanding professional merit, and academic excellence from Princeton University (M-Arch).

Since 2007 Kai has taught in both the fine arts and architecture at ETH Zurich, Princeton University, McGill University, and RISD. Today he is an Assitant Professor for Spatial Dynamics in the division of Experimental and Foundation Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design.

From December 2013 – September 2014 Kai was an artist-in-residence at the Akademie Schloss Solitude, Germany.

Kai’s works haven been shown in exhibitions in the U.S. and in Germany. His most recent projects include: Plopper (Dual-Axis Precision Deposition System), 2012, exhibited at the RISD Museum during the Faculty Biennial (February/March 2013), as well as Pixilerations v.9 (October 2012), the Guggenheim New York Series (2012) and the publication of his book 'Serial Nature' in 2014.

 

deutsch

Geboren 1983 in Köln/Deutschland.

Kai Franz lebt und arbeitet in Providence, Rhode Island and Berlin.

Franz studierte Architektur an der RWTH Aachen (Vordiplom, 2006), sowie der ETH Zürich (BSc EHTZ, 2008). Während seines Architekturstudiums setzte sich Franz intensiv mit den Computerwissenschaften auseinander und erforschte nachdrücklich die Integration der Informatik in den architektonischen Entwurfsprozess. Nach seinem Studienabschluss in Zürich, forschte Kai Franz als wissenschaftlicher Assistent am Lehrstuhl für Informationsarchitektur der ETH Zürich. 

2008 arbeitete er für das Office for Metropolitan Architecture, wo er im Rahmen von AMO (OMA’s think-tank) das Potential eines OMA-spezifischen computergestützten Entwurfsansatz untersuchte. Anschliessend wechselte Franz zum New Yorker Büro und schloss sich dem Designteam von OMA*AMO an. 

2009 wurde Kai Franz zum Fulbright Scholar ernannt. Seine Nominierung zum Fulbright-Stipendiaten ermöglichte ihm im Jahre 2009/10 das Studium der Bildenden Künste an der Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, USA (MFA, ohne Graduierung). 

2011 erhielt Franz das KPF Traveling Fellowship. 2012 graduierte er mit Auszeichungen im Bereich Design, akademischer Exzellenz, und besonderem Engagement in der Architekturhochschule und professionellen Verdienst und von der Princeton University (M-Arch).

Seit 2007 unterrichtete Kai Franz im Bereich der bildenden Künste sowie der Architektur an den Hochschulen ETH Zürich, McGill University, Montreal, Kanada, der Rhode Island School of Design und an der Princeton University. Heute hat er eine Professur im Bereich Spatial Dynamics an der Fakultät für Experimental and Foundation Studies an der Rhode Island School of Design.

Von Dezember 2013 bis September 2014 war Kai Franz Stipendiat und artist-in-residence an der Akademie Schloss Solitide in Stuttgart.

Seine Arbeiten wurden in zahlreichen Ausstellungen in den Vereingiten Staaten von Amerika sowie in Deutschland gezeigt. Zu Franz jüngsten Projekten gehören: Plopper (Dual-Axis Precision Deposition System), 2012, ausgestellt im RISD Museum während der Faculty Biennial (Februar/März 2013) sowie Pixilerations v.9 (Oktober 2012), die Guggenheim New York Series (2012) und die Publikation eines umfassenden Werkkataloges im Jahr 2013.

english

When Kai was 6, he was given a C64. Instead of the ABC he was subjected to the ASDF_JKLMO. Carving a cave out of the earth with a tablespoon, he won a neighborhood kids competition at the age of 8, very much to the discomfort of the local police.

Though his corporeal and mental development was ranked normal, in grade 1 he was pulled out from being a first grader and relocated into academia’s earliest interstitial space called Vorschule, a contemporary liberal politics’ threshold between Kindergarten and elementary school (he refused to follow the good reasoned, tedious orders of his teacher).

Kai’s Christmas tree at the age of 9 had his first 8MB ram personal computer (PC).

As a child of divorce (his parents didn’t want him to get stuck in the “in between” again (supposedly they felt somewhat guilty about the stumble in the child’s Vorschule-relocation)), Kai was not sent to Germany’s finest High-School track (Gymnasium), but rather encountered the countries’ medium-grime and leisure of that separation while keeping it real at the Realschule. After all Kai was fortunate enough to go through the B-track – Gymnasium and education for what they call “higher means” from grade 11-13. His grades for math oscillated between 1 & 5- (A+ & F), in German he never made the B- (2-), a potential hangover from the ASDF_JKLO.

 

deutsch (bio continued..)

During his civilian service Mrs. B., one of Kai’s elderly patients, really fell for Kai. The German government did too and funded several CAAD classes and figure drawing sessions under the umbrella of continuing education.

What was supposed to be redwine-studies (Vordiplom in architecture at RWTH Aachen 2006, then a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at Zurich’s ETH in 2006), turned out to be true brainwashing. The consequence was an architectural play with computer science for ambitious yet loose ends.
Ultimately the architecture of the ASDF appointed Kai as a researcher for Information Architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
Pretty much the same thing happened a year later at OMA where Kai played with Rem’s laptop, first in Rotterdam later in NYC. 

Kai then got a Fulbright to study architecture at Princeton University. Well, the folks there didn’t really accept him. Kai was first on the waitlist, but everyone accepted. Ohhops. What do you do with a Fulbright and no host institution? Kai went to RISD and studied ART in a MFA program (digital+media). Frankly, without the “+” Kai probably wouldn’t have gone to RISD. Although Kai truly enjoyed the program, Fulbright didn’t fund the 2nd year of the MFA. The boy reapplied at Princeton and this time got in – M-Arch from Princeton with several awards and truly good friendships in 2012.

Since then Kai has taught at Princeton and RISD. Today he splits his time between Berlin and Providence, RI, where he is also a professor of Spatial Dynamics at RISD. He still likes to dig out caves from the earth and climb up trees.