Mongrel Foundation > Artists Pages > Karl Burke

Karl Burke is a interdisciplinary artist and active musician whose practice includes sculpture, sound, installation works, photography and film. Exhibiting both nationally and internationally, his work is concerned with our relationship to and perceptions of our three dimensional world and endeavors to form a physical and emotive relationship between the art object space/place and the viewer.
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A current body of work entitled " wooden drawings " involves the placement of uniform lengths of processed wood in various situations in a landscape ( to date a forested environment), specifically in relation to different aspects of that landscape.These sculptures are not fixed with nails or any other form of fixing and this allowsfor a fluid response. As a site specific work these pieces act as a three dimensional notebook in the form of documentation through photography. Through these subtle but logical interventions in nature Karl's work offers the viewer the opportunity to in a beautifully simple way reassess and acknowledge the world that surrounds us.
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Karl is working towards a number of exhibitions which include shows in the RHA and "Eigse"in Carlow. He has finished his first short film 'Landscapes' in collaboration with fellow artist Mark Garry - a commissioned work for the Dock Gallery, Carrick on Shannon. They are currently working on two more commissioned works.
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Karl also practices as a musician under the name Karl Him and released his critically acclaimed debut album 'Electronic Laments' on the Spitroast Label in 2002. His music can be described as acoustic, ambient electronic. He has composed music and soundscapes for the theatre company Loose Canon. His music as also appeared on a number of compilations. Upcoming releases include " The Forest Project " a commissioned project that Karl has been working on in a forest in county Sligo over the past four months.
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Karl Him / Electronic Lament
More soundtracks for winter in the city. Little may be known about Karl Him aside from the fact that he makes music, but the sounds he has put down on disk speak volumes about his intent. A lush delicate sprinkling of acoustic soul and digital precision, there's much here that borrows from outings by Susumu Yokata and Black Dog yet what Him proceeds to do with these ideas is really refreshing. Tracks such as Norway and Some Aoife glide simply along, each track finding it's feet midway through the groove. As Electronic Lament evolves, so to does Him's confidenceand ability to craft alluring, distorted and infectious soundscapes. Though just his debut, there's enough to suggest bigger and better symphonies to come. (Reviewed in The Ticket, Irish Times, Jan 2002 by Jim Carroll)
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