Uncertain Surrounding

We are in a time of possibilities, not certainties. Without the ability to judge the future we will be presented with many possible realities - some more fantastical, others less. However, until we regain some ability to make accurate predictions, we will exist in a realm of multiple realities. In the near impossibility of analysis, we will find ourselves with little else than our imaginations to navigate our uncertain surroundings. In his epic Modernist novel The Man Without Qualities, Robert Musil writing about Europe at the beginning of the Twentieth century observed that "we have gained reality and lost dream." However, the consequences of the very same technological processes that inspired that statement have now led to its inversion.

Landcuts proceeds from Rioux's earlier experiments with brand imagery. The difference is that now his warped logos and distorted pictures have become surfaces in artificial landscapes. For this series Rioux has found 3D models of topography on the internet over which he has superimposed his own imaginary surfaces. The works seem at once like geological models, film-stills or sculptural maquettes. The new application of these images makes them more cryptic and silent. In this series Rioux carries on with his exploration-invention of synthetic landscapes where he takes the viewer to places that speak less directly to him or her in a recognizable language - both more inward and alien, that do not instruct so much as leave one with an unarticulated sense of inbalance.

Neal RockWell 2009