Erika Vogt

Born 1973 in East Newark, New Jersey
Lives and Works in Los Angeles, California

Secret Traveler Navigator depicts a series of figures and objects captured in silhouette against changing backgrounds. In these “filmic portraits,” the figures perform repetitive, quasi-ritualistic gestures with objects emblematic of their roles in the film. Erika Vogt’s cast of characters consists of a series of “archetypes,” including figures she identifies as a capitalist/builder with a crane, artists/explorers, a charlatan/medicine man, and a figure known as the “image-traveler” among others. Although these characters never share the same space in the video, they conjure a mythical narrative of storytelling and a narrator searching for direction: forward or backward. Like many of Vogt’s works, Secret Traveler Navigator blends digital and analog media. By videotaping the figures’ performances in front of film projections, Vogt creates complex spaces that are layered and internally disjunctive. Vogt’s practice is a conceptual investigation of different image-making processes. Secret Traveler Navigator’s structure functions as a compass in which fragments of stories, objects, actions, and characters, including Vogt and other artists as fellow performers, find direction.

READ About the Artist

"Top Ten: Erika Vogt"
—Artforum (February 2009)

"Their Favorite Exhibitions of 2008"
—Artforum (December 2008)

"In These Shows, the Material is the Message"
—The New York Times (August 2007)