John Sanborn. Between Order and Entropy. Works 1978–2022

John Sanborn. Between Order and Entropy. Works 1978–2022 | Guided
tour with the artist


[09.07.2022 – 30.10.2022]


The exhibition »Between Order and Entropy« presents the work of
the American artist John Sanborn, who became one of the most
prominent protagonists of the American video art scene in the
1970s and 1980s.


Sanborn's work ranges from the beginnings of experimental video
art to MTV music videos, interactive art, and digital media art.
Consulting with Apple and Adobe, he contributed to shaping the
possibilities of new image tools and was instrumental to the
dawning of the digital image revolution in California. Sanborn's
recent work consists of complex media installations that address
issues of cultural identity, memory, mythologies, and the human
compulsion to tell stories.


This exhibition, which is the largest in Europe devoted to the
work of the artist, who worked closely with the founder of video
art Nam June Paik and the composer Robert Ashley, brings together
a collection of works that spans over four decades of sound,
music, interactive media and video exploration. After working in
Hollywood and Silicon Valley for several years, Sanborn has
produced a variety of new media installations since 2015,
elevating issues of identity and inclusivity. For the exhibition,
which will take place inside the museum galleries and on the
museum balcony at the ZKM, several works were commissioned,
including »a dog dreams (of god)«, and a Virtual Reality
iteration of a recent work, »The Friend«, featuring the actor and
director John Cameron Mitchell.


A comprehensive publication on John Sanborn’s work will accompany
the exhibition.