Aesthetica Art Prize Shortlist: Exploring Anonymity

Shortlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize, Kenji Ouellet, born Quebec City and based in Berlin, works across performance and video, and creates media concepts for contemporary dance choreography. Using these formats to question established conventions and notions of identity, the artist creates powerful and complex tapestries of sound and movement.

Set against the backdrop of the densely populated metropolis, the film I Am One comprises quotes about uniqueness, offering new perspectives on individuality from celebrities and anonymous figures. Each phrase is heard over scenes of a highly built-up urban area, providing encounters between the collective and the individual. Especially poignant in the context of today’s globalised world – dominated by life on the Internet – the piece facilitates a multiplicity of interpretations whilst interweaving personal and universal narratives.

The Aesthetica Art Prize is a celebration of excellence in art from across the world. Engaging with key contemporary issues, it holds up a mirror to society whilst offering both emerging and established artists the opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience, and further their engagement with the international art world.

I Am One is part of this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize exhibition, at York Art Gallery from 18 May. Find out more here.

Credits:
1. Kenji Ouellet, Excerpt from I am One.