Eric Orr
Venice, California. “Why is light the rosy path for physics and art? Whay is Space active and object passive? I use silence the way a painter uses color. The future of art depends on artists not copying art but finding it. I want to make a work of art as simple as the concept of zero.” -Eric Orr
Eric Orr (1939-1998) was born in Covington, Kentucky. He received a BA from the University of Cincinnati and studied poetry and economics at the New School for Social Research in New York. He studied briefly at the University of New Mexico and the Ecole de Paraphysiques in Paris. Originally identified as part of the Southern California Light and Space Group, he moved to Los Angeles in 1966 where he worked until his death in 1998. Orr described himself as a “Proto-materialist” artist and focused on the initial simplicity of the state before matter. Orr’s education from schools around the world sparked an interest in metaphysics, which became the basis of his work. Much of Orr’s art is rooted in the tendency of Taoism and the wisdom of the Greek philosopher, Plato. These teachings spoke of the limitations of materiality and the benefits of a state where spacial boundaries have been left behind. Many of Orr’s works have involved elements such as ice, light, shadow, air, sound and fire, none of which are substantial, concrete or traditionally accepted as materials utilized in art. Orr enjoyed these metaphysical elements because they defy defintion and offer an open spacial void. In November 1998, Eric Orr died of a heart attack in his studio in Los Angeles. He had just finished his sculpture for Cheekwood.
Eric Orr (1939-1998) was born in Covington, Kentucky. He received a BA from the University of Cincinnati and studied poetry and economics at the New School for Social Research in New York. He studied briefly at the University of New Mexico and the Ecole de Paraphysiques in Paris. Originally identified as part of the Southern California Light and Space Group, he moved to Los Angeles in 1966 where he worked until his death in 1998. Orr described himself as a “Proto-materialist” artist and focused on the initial simplicity of the state before matter. Orr’s education from schools around the world sparked an interest in metaphysics, which became the basis of his work. Much of Orr’s art is rooted in the tendency of Taoism and the wisdom of the Greek philosopher, Plato. These teachings spoke of the limitations of materiality and the benefits of a state where spacial boundaries have been left behind. Many of Orr’s works have involved elements such as ice, light, shadow, air, sound and fire, none of which are substantial, concrete or traditionally accepted as materials utilized in art. Orr enjoyed these metaphysical elements because they defy defintion and offer an open spacial void. In November 1998, Eric Orr died of a heart attack in his studio in Los Angeles. He had just finished his sculpture for Cheekwood.
(American, 1939 – 1998)
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