The Standard

(Still from Chris Dorland’s Restoration Hardware)

Artist Chris Dorland is a self-proclaimed image scavenger. If you’re familiar with his work, you’ll know what he means. Dorland creates amazing works framing found images in a new context. While to this point he’s mostly worked as a painter, we are thrilled to host his first ever video piece Restoration Hardware in collaboration with Art Production Fund in The 24/7 Projection at The Standard, Downtown LA and The Standard, Hollywood.

Dorland took a few moments to answer our questions and give us some insight into his process.

The Standard: Up to this point you have mainly been a painter – what made you want to transition to video work?
Chris Dorland: It’s think it’s important to be clear that I am not transitioning away from painting to video but rather I’m just adding a new component to my work. Movies and commercials have been fundamental to my understanding of the world and the development of my subjectivity. Long before paintings ever were. This was just the most obvious way of highlighting that relationship.

Commercial imagery in Restoration Hardware.

What inspired Restoration Hardware in particular to be your first foray into video? And why the name Restoration Hardware?
I had been watching a lot of videos on You Tube. Old advertisements and corporate videos. I’d been saving my favorite videos for a while. I’m very interested in how the idea of Progress gets aestheticised and then ultimately instrumentalized by capitalism. In one way or the other all my work is about the relationship between idea of the future and the construction of consumption and desire. The video is named after the home furnishings store of the same name. It’s such an odd name. It’s sounds like a thrift shop where you would buy used computer parts or cybernetic limbs. Not brand new couches and rugs. 

Restoration Hardware utilizes a lot of found footage/image collage, which is a theme throughout your previous work as well. What is behind this and how do you think it contributes to the overall feel and message of your work?
At base I’m an image scavenger. I find things that already exist and I retrofit them so they have new meaning. It’s a kind of bricolage. Hands on appropriation. Restoration Hardware is a rehabilitation project. 

What was the process like behind the making of this piece and how was it different from your typical process?
It was surprisingly not different at all. It was thoroughly fun. My girlfriend Erin gave me a quick tutorial on Final Cut Pro and that was it. I spent the next 2 weeks developing it. It felt very natural. The only aspect that was new to me was collaborating on the soundtrack. One of my oldest and closest friends Leon Louder scored the piece. He is an amazing audio engineer and I’ve wanted to work with him for a long time. But that was also really easy. We’ve been friends for so long that we have a kind of short hand. We both really enjoyed working together and I’m sure there will be more projects in the future.

What’s next for you?
I just finished my second video SOLEIL SOLEIL (a collaboration with my friend Alexander Carver) which I’m very pleased with. Otherwise I’m spending the summer in the studio painting. Along with a much needed vacation to the Boundary waters.