Jun Ortega (Fine Arts) – The Glistening Abyss

Jun Ortega seeks the coalescence of fantasy and reality: investigating not only where the two meet but also seeking the space where one might overtake the other and, ultimately, fold onto each other. ⁠

Through the guidance of different entities that get channeled into film, installation and sound, Jun Ortega’s work is a simulacrum in this reality of fantasy, so that fantasy –that which is out of reach– can manifest. As the simulacra is reiterated, the separation between reality and fantasy thins until it disappears altogether. A process where binaries of self and other, desire and repulsion get blurred in favour of multiple selves, mutability, and divergence. 

PART OF RIETVELD REVIEW(ED) 2021

The Gerrit Rietveld Academie is proud to present the video portraits of selected graduation projects of 2021 as part of Rietveld Review(ed). With these portraits, we highlight and celebrate remarkable art projects from the next generation of artists. 

Rietveld Review(ed) is part of the Graduation Show’s side programme. Independent, external committees were asked to reflect on the Graduation Show (7-11 July 2021) as a whole and to signal current tendencies and themes within the exhibition. The reflections and observations were processed by the Rietveld Academie into a reflection report.

The committees were also asked to select several projects by graduates that support these observations. Presenter and program creator Luuk Heezen and cameraman Rik Lauwen then created video portraits of these selected projects and their makers. The two-to-four-minute videos offer an accessible way to explore these intimate and personal art projects further and get to know the artists and designers behind the projects – something which might not have been possible for visitors amidst the plethora of art works in the exhibition, or because the art projects could only receive a limited number of visitors due to the COVID-19 outbreak.