Artist to Watch: Dora Budor

A R T I S T T O

W A T C H

D O R A B U D O R

A M I R S H A R I A T . A T

Dora Budor's Spring exhibitionat the Swiss Institute has been

extended by two months due topopular demand.

This is Dora Budor's firstinstitutional solo exhibit.

Croatian by birth and currentlybased out of New York, Budor

works to represent the emotionaland physical experience within

the ideological subtexts ofmainstream cinema.

Using methods of Hollywoodproduction style and special

effect techniques, she purchasesscreen­used cinema props.

Combining sci­fi architecturalelements with organic sculptural

elements, she calls the process"reanimation".

By taking the fictional andmaking it real, and mixing themechanical with the organic,

Budor contextualizes the ideas ofmaterialization, mutation,

fictionalization, and experience.

With miniature set piecesoriginally used on screen inblockbuster films The Fifth

Element, Batman Returns, andJohnny Mnemonic, the works

appear to almost be alive.

When asked about the black surroundings,Budor states: “Spurred by climate change,bacteria have reappeared on some of the

world’s oldest mummies, rapidlydecomposing their ancient skin into blackslime. Once understood as stable, rigid anddead, biological and ecological forces have

suddenly revived these deeply historicalbodies in a Frankensteinian way – a symbolic

indication of the current moment.”