(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)August 28, 2006

(Mahwah) – Ramapo College of New Jersey presents a special exhibition of images in its Photo Lounge Gallery: “The Pursuit of Emptiness, Variations of Red, White and Blue,” featuring works by conceptual artist Andor Orand.  The exhibition will open on Wednesday, September 13 and continue through October 6.  There will be an opening reception September 13 from 5 to 7 p.m.

The artist was invited to exhibit at the College by Shalom Gorewitz, a professor of video.  New and previous works by Orand will be on display including a series of digital prints:  “The Pursuit of Emptiness, Variations of Red, White and Blue.” Orand uses symbols, characters or hieroglyphs from different languages and cultures that signify emptiness or vacancy and stand for the absence of something, such as zero, null, void, blank, barren, bleak, silence, betwixt, between, gap, etc.  He combines them on a variety of red, white and blue background transformations.

On September 27, Andor Orand will conduct a performance event related to this series called “Stamp Act and the Art of Selling Nothing for Something.”  He’ll show and tell a brief history of his MoneyArt pieces and nothing-for-something events.  “They deal with time-money, spirit-matter and idea-stuff exchange modalities to highlight the paradox of converting ideas and concepts into matter or money,” says the artist.

He’ll also talk briefly about his squaring-the-circle products, the Square Quarter, Square Mark and Square Yen, or as he puts it, “to make money in order to make money, but to make it pay is another story.”  These historical pieces are part of the exhibit.

Orand will conclude his presentation as Counter-Stamp Master, stamping bills “empty, null and void” and signing them.  He’ll charge a moderate stamping fee.  In this emptying process the bills are rendered timeless and priceless, not worthless.  Through such a transformation of money, the world can profit spiritually and culturally, the artist believes.  “If money is changed into limited-edition art objects, this timeless money not only retains its value, but also appreciates as an art investment,” he says.

In this Stamp Act performance, Orand will touch upon issues of interdisciplinary interest to students of history, mathematics, philosophy, sociology, psychology, jurisprudence and economics:  positive and negative liberty and the social, cultural and psychological roots of economic behavior.

Andor Orand Carius, is a U.S. citizen and works in the New York Metropolitan Area and Princeton, NJ, where he also resides. In the Mid-Sixties he adopted Andor Orand as his artist’s name, signifying that his artistic concern would be “Analoging Digital,” exploring and mapping the digital world.  His first name is Andor, but he added Orand as his last name, to make it more obvious that Or And, and vice versa, are symbols for the combinatorial operators in propositional calculus, a branch of mathematical logic. As “and, or not, or also,” they switch and organize the ones and zeros that make up computer bits in the transistors, the core elements of digital technology. However, these words do not only occur in scientific-technological terminology, but also as prepositions in natural language and can be translated into all the languages of the planet. Andor uses his name as a conceptual art tool to examine and represent issues of global technological identity.

He describes himself as artist-philosopher, experimenter, event maker multi-media artist, writer and musician. He has traveled widely presenting performances and multi-media events.

This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Photo Lounge is located on the first floor of the Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts at Ramapo College.  Hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Wednesday, 1 to 7 p.m.  For more information, call 201.684.7147.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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