Kristoffer Ørum
Local. Copenhagen and Aarhus, mostly.
Nothing digital about it. A screen is an object, and objects sit in rooms.
Works with machines that are confidently wrong.
Twenty years out of art school, and back in it.
A portraitist. None of the portraits are of him.
A documentary practice. Every work here has an address and a date.
The faces produced through this process often appear distorted or uncanny to human eyes, yet they retain a resemblance to mainstream ideals of beauty. Recognised Faces, 2014
jerklædte Misforståelser (Feathered Misconceptions) is a fifteen-minute associative performance commissioned by Ny Carlsberg Fondet for their annual celebration of their founder on 28 February 2018. Feathered Misconceptions, 2018
The work was exhibited alongside Emily Rosamond's work on historical communication systems, from ancient oracles to wartime frequency-hopping technologies. Signal_Crayfish, 2020
Maps are freely available across Aalborg, and the project’s website continues to expand its speculative histories. Aalborg Is The Future, 2024
The 2017 version included male artists and moved away from explicit imagery toward more abstract works. Sucker Trick, 2017
The installation examined the concept of the "monstrous machine" - creatures that cross borders and assemble opposing parts, blurring categories to challenge perceptions of ourselves and technology. Signal_Crayfish, 2021
The invasive biological species served as an analogy for invasive digital technologies and data collection systems. Signal_Crayfish, 2020
Ørum's contribution used algorithmic depth estimation to analyse one of the recovered photographs and generate a three-dimensional interpretation. Depth Estimation, 2019
The performance questions traditional notions of heroic bodies and monochrome histories, imagining instead non-heroic bodies in soft, feathered institutions that function as part of a collective ecosystem. Feathered Misconceptions, 2018
Today, images are filtered, analysed, and manipulated by systems we rarely notice or understand. Watershed, 2025
The exhibition was curated by museum inspector Pernille Rom Bruun and featured partnerships between artists and associations including nature conservation, bird watching, boxing, gliding, gymnastics, and rabbit breeding groups. Everyday Heroes, 2019
At the neighbouring Museum Østjylland, speculative objects were integrated into the historical displays, including a model of an "oyster home" and interventions within exhibits about Grenå's local oyster history. Djurs Øhav, 2020
The piece challenges conventional media formats by introducing poetic, disconcerting aesthetics into mainstream broadcast, encouraging reflection on surveillance, representation, and identity in the digital age. Data Kroppe, 2017
Exhibition documented by photographer Mikkel Kaldal. Ebeltoft After The Flood, 2021
In Copenhagen, at Live Art for Kids the project took shape in courtyards, playgrounds, and cultural centres. Mundane Heroics, 2019
The resulting work consists of around 600 interlinked texts, images and videos. Topographies of the Insignificant, 2010
It was coded using the then-ubiquitous Flash interactive format. Topographies of the Insignificant, 2010
The project served as the conceptual foundation for later work on how artificial intelligence could be used to create alternative historical narratives about Danish society. Tank Hip-Hop, 2022
The work set daily life against hypothetical digital physiognomies, using the nose as a means to examine identity and perception. According to the Nose, 2021
The exhibition blurs the line between documentary and fiction, making room for the unrealised potential of the past to resurface not as nostalgia, but as unfinished possibility. Aarhus'er #1, 2025
Or the massive folk festival held in Fælledparken the day graffiti was legalised? Frihed, Lighed Og Hip-Hop, 2023
The collaboration involved fieldwork where Ørum spent time with the role-playing association in their regular activities, including battles in Hansted Forest and gaming sessions. Everyday Heroes, 2019
As a user zooms in on a fragment, its pixel structure reveals itself, breaking the illusion of seamlessness. Watershed, 2025
A large yellow-green crayfish was positioned in the gallery window. Signal_Crayfish, 2020
The exhibition was supported by Novo Nordisk Fonden. Affluence without abundance, 2025
Visitors encountered these figures both inside the museum and in everyday spaces, such as the local supermarket, where baguettes from the freezer section served as swords. Game Continent, 2010
The work contrasts the artificially generated with the seemingly authentic. Monuments of A Fictitious Past, 2024
This reordering not only alters the image itself but also reshapes how it must be encountered. Watershed, 2025
Would You Like to Know More is an internet work in the Signal_Crayfish series, published online by Radar Contemporary. Would You Like to Know More, 2017
The work was created for the group exhibition "Opløsning af Det Private Arkiv" aboard the ship Svartlöga in Copenhagen. Depth Estimation, 2019
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
As a result, it is now defunct and can no longer be accessed in its original form. Topographies of the Insignificant, 2010
It positions deliberate misunderstanding as a productive alternative to seamless digital communication and reliable interpretation systems. Feathered Misconceptions, 2018
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
The exhibition featured wall art contributions by artist Anders Reventlov alongside AI-generated narratives. Mr. Spray, 2024
The animated scene acts as a virtual doubling of both the street in front and the interior space behind the window. Et Andet Rum 2, 2009
Some pieces he remembers to add, others he forgets.
The exhibition gathers artists' books from the handmade to the high-tech, including 3D-printed structures and works that leave the codex behind. Signal_Crayfish, 2026
The project formed part of a research collaboration between the participating museums and the University of Copenhagen. Signal_Crayfish, 2020
Rather than illustrating a lost history, the project manipulates familiar visual tropes and embraces the productive errors of AI. Aarhus'er #1, 2025