Kristoffer Ørum
Twenty years out of art school, and back in it.
Not local. Boston, Vancouver, Riga, Kraków, Oberhausen, San Francisco.
Science fiction, set last week.
Research. Somebody is going to have to examine it.
Some of it only exists as a photograph now.
A documentary practice. Every work here has an address and a date.
Occasionally she would enter well-lit areas briefly before disappearing when confronted. The Ballehage Woman, 2009
SignalCrayfish was presented as part of the two-person exhibition "Semio-Technical Traffics" with Emily Rosamond. Signal_Crayfish, 2020
It takes the current development of the site of the art space as its point of departure, arguing for the often-overlooked qualities and potential of brownfield sites like it. Brownfield Wonderland, 2022
The exhibition featured video projections, 3D-printed sculptures, wireless transmissions, two-dimensional works, and an augmented reality component that allowed visitors to view "monsters" inhabiting the gallery through their phone cameras. Mundane Monsters, 2022
A computer transcribes the audio files it has captured and translates them into Danish, before uploading the text to Meter’s homepage. Blind Listening, 2017
Works included "When nature looks back at you" (3D print, 2021), "Pearl House" (mixed media, 2020), "Habitation Oyster from Kolidsound" (3D print, 2020), and "WARNING FLOOR FLOODED DURING HIGH TIDE" (hydrographic print on cornstarch, 2021). Ebeltoft After The Flood, 2021
These precedents inform an imagined shift towards AI systems that are modest in scope, but deeply embedded in the cultures that maintain them. Diffused States (Vancouver), 2025
In Copenhagen, at Live Art for Kids the project took shape in courtyards, playgrounds, and cultural centres. Mundane Heroics, 2019
The piece functioned within the broader context of examining technological fears and the archetype of the monstrous machine. Signal_Crayfish, 2021
As tension builds, the man gradually dissolves into the screen, becoming one with the flickering patterns. Once We All Walk through Solid Objects, 2007
The role-players — dressed as green warriors and magicians — relied on grass as their main resource. Game Continent, 2010
The project invited citizens to have their pets gently scanned to contribute to a composite digital monster that would inhabit the area around Borchs Gård in Kolding city centre. The Kolding Creature, 2021
Standard interfaces are optimised for speed, reducing engagement to rapid recognition. Watershed, 2025
The project operated on several levels with "lines of flight" into the city, online, and in local media. According to the Nose, 2021
The installation operated both as physical presence at ARoS Public and as part of the parallel online exhibition, extending the work virtually with supplementary material. Signal_Crayfish, 2021
The project used artificial intelligence not as a thinking entity, but as a tool filled with errors and biases that could inspire new ways of thinking. Frihed, Lighed Og Hip-Hop, 2023
The work was exhibited alongside Emily Rosamond's work on historical communication systems, from ancient oracles to wartime frequency-hopping technologies. Signal_Crayfish, 2020
This duality exposes both the shortcomings of surveillance technologies and the alternative forms of perception they enact, offering a mechanical way of seeing that highlights aspects of our species that human vision alone might overlook. Recognised Faces, 2014
Text panels presented both accurate biological information and fabricated technical specifications. Signal_Crayfish, 2020
The project treats these everyday activities as data sources capable of producing narratives, insights, and imaginative associations. Day to Day Data, 2008
Rather than scaling towards planetary computation, this speculative trajectory follows a slower, more situated evolution—one in which algorithms adapt to the languages, histories, and needs of their immediate context. Diffused States (Vancouver), 2025
At the same time, abstract projections of colour and computer-generated sound evolve according to the same underlying logic. AutoBiography, 2011
In this counterfactual history, data is not extracted at scale but circulated within communities, adapting to local needs, languages, and cultural references. Diffused States (Lexington), 2025
A sink was reconstructed containing pasta, while spaghetti was modelled from FIMO clay. Invisible Objects, 2016
Kristoffer Ørum’s contribution imagines Malmö as shaped by the afterlives of its industrial past and alternative forms of civic imagination. Even the City Dreams of Being Another, 2025
At the Edge II is supported by Kulturrådet, Malmö stad, Region Skåne, and Statens Kunstfond. Even the City Dreams of Being Another, 2025
"Sucker Trick" is a collaboration between visual artist Kristoffer Ørum, magician Claus Mulbjerg, and architect Tomas Skovgaard. Sucker Trick, 2017
A model of a Cosmic Carrot ray invented by the fictional Dr. Cosmic Carrot, 2005
Over the past year, I have created a series of self-portraits using locally run AI. None of These Images Are of Me, 2025
The pieces incorporated Wi-Fi network names printed on crayfish bodies, casting the invasive species as a digital hybrid creature living within communication networks. Signal_Crayfish, 2020
Everyday objects were recognisable yet altered. Mundane Heroics, 2019
Aarhus'er #1 is the most expansive chapter in Kristoffer Ørum's ongoing counterfactual project "Frihed, lighed og hip-hop" (Freedom, Equality and Hip-Hop), created in collaboration with rapper Emilio Hestepis. Aarhus'er #1, 2025
Just as hip-hop DJs once transformed the turntable from a playback device into a creative instrument, this project reimagines Hvidovre’s history as speculative fiction. Hvidovre Makes Good Times Better, 2025
Brownfield Wonderland is a multi-platform art project at Spanien 19C in Aarhus, Denmark. Brownfield Wonderland, 2022
A "Sucker Trick" is a magic trick where the magician offers false clues to hide what they are actually doing. Sucker Trick, 2017
The 2017 version included male artists and moved away from explicit imagery toward more abstract works. Sucker Trick, 2017
Working with AI models trained on biased data, the project asks how such systems can still be repurposed to imagine collective and collaborative futures. Diffused States (Boston), 2025
The work takes up how repeated exposure to images of buildings sinking into rubble with glass shards and dust spreading symmetrically creates expectations that the physical world behaves the same way. Melting State, 2020
Local rumours, past dreams, and forgotten figures merge with the town’s documented history across media: an interactive video installation, posters, sound works, and music. Hvidovre Makes Good Times Better, 2025
Putin's Nose was a multi-year project that sought to turn surveillance systems' simplified identity categories and tools against themselves. Putin's Nose, 2019