Cory Arcangel

Cory Arcangel (born 1978, Buffalo, NY), is an artist, composer, curator, and entrepreneur living and working in Stavanger, Norway. Arcangel explores the potential and failures of old and new digital technologies, highlighting their obsolescence, humor, aesthetic attributes and, at times, eerie influence in contemporary life. Applying a semi-archeological methodology, his practice explores, encodes, and hacks the structural language of video games, software, social media and machine learning — treating them as subject matter and medium. Notable works include Totally Fucked (2003), a hacked Mario Bros game cartridge where Mario is stuck on a cube forever; Permanent Vacation (2008), where two computers are locked in an out of office email loop; Drei Klavierstücke op.11 (2009), in which Arnold Schoenberg’s homonymous 1909 score is plated by editing together YouTube clips of cats playing pianos; Working on my Novel (2009), a compendium of Twitter search results for “working on my novel”; Various Self Playing Bowling Games (2011), video games modified to throw gutter balls; Flatware (2018-), a series of abstract “paintings” mounted on Ikea tabletops sourced from a diverse range of leisurewear and, /roʊˈdeɪoʊ/ Let's Play: HOLLYWOOD (2017-2021), a custom built high performance machine learning computer which plays, as it learns, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, a free-to-play role-playing Android game. Recent and ongoing projects include ‘ALL I EAT IN A DAY,’ Curated by Cory Arcangel and Giovanni Carmine at Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Switzerland; ‘Form Matters, Matter Forms: From Readymade to Product Fetish,’ Kunst Museum Winterthur, Switzerland ‘🌊💨&🔥,’ ART on THE MART, Chicago; ‘Let’s Play Majerus G3,’ Michel Majerus Estate, Berlin; and “Worldbuilding: Gaming and Art in the Digital Age” at Julia Stoschek Collection, Dusseldorf, Germany and Centre Pompidou Metz, France.

Arcangel is the youngest artist since Bruce Nauman to have been given a full floor solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2011). Other exhibitions comprise: “Let’s Play Majerus G3,” Michel Majerus Estate, Berlin, Germany (2024), “Midnight Moment - Another Romp Through the IP (Times Square edit)”, Times Square (2022),“Topline”, at CC Foundation, Shanghai (2019), “BACK OFF”, at Firstsite, Colchester, Essex, UK (2019), “Be the first of your friends” at Espace Louis Vuitton München, Munich, Germany (2015), “This is all so crazy, everybody seems so famous” at Galleria d‘Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo (2015), “All The Small Things” at the Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik (2015), “Masters” at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2012–13), “Beat the Champ” at the Barbican, London (2011), and “Here Comes Everybody” at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2010–11) and Nerdzone Version 1 at the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich (2005). Arcangel received the Kino der Kunst Award in 2015 and was shortlisted for the Nam June Paik Award in 2014. His work was included in the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Liverpool Biennial (both 2004). In 2014, he launched Arcangel Surfware, a merchandise and publishing imprint. Its flagship store opened in Stavanger, Norway in 2018.

Recent, current and forthcoming projects

‘Access Kafka,’ Jewish Museum Berlin, Germany, 13 Dec 2024 - 4 May 2025

‘Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film,’ Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, USA, 24 November 2024 - 13 July 2025

‘The Living End: Painting and Other Technologies, 1970-2020’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, USA, 9 November 2024 – 23 March 2025

'Let’s Play Majerus G3,' Michel Majerus Estate, Berlin, 27 April 2024 - 4 May 2025

'ALL I EAT IN A DAY,' Curated by Cory Arcangel, Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Switzerland, 6 September - 1 December 2024

Cory Arcangel
PS 2024: 1.2x1.2m, 100 dots/cm, RGB, 16 Bits/Channel, Square Pixels, Pink_15, Linear, 90°, 10%, Reverse, Perceptual, 2023

Ditone print on Dibond w/ silicone protective cover, aluminum supports, & brushed aluminum frame
121.3 x 121.3 x 2.5 cm
47 3/4 x 47 3/4 x 1 in

Cory Arcangel
🌊💨&🔥, 2024

Single-channel AV facade for Art on The Mart. Audio by Hampus Lindwall. (Installation view: 🌊💨&🔥, ART on THE MART, Chicago, USA, June, 2024 - August, 2024) Photo: ART on THE MART. Courtesy: ART on THE MART.

Cory Arcangel
✎~|.2023.025

2023
Aluplate aluminium, powder coat thermo polymer
125 x 125 x 0.6 cm
49 1/4 x 49 1/4 x 0 1/4 in

Cory Arcangel
Errors and Omissions

2023, Lisson Gallery, Shanghai

Cory Arcangel
Errors and Omissions

2023, Lisson Gallery, Shanghai

Cory Arcangel
/roʊˈdeɪoʊ/ Let's Play: HOLLYWOOD 2021-06-09T20:22:00+02:00 10870

Single-channel video of /roʊˈdeɪoʊ/ Let's Play: HOLLYWOOD recorded on June 9, 2021.
System sounds by Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never).. Photo: Cory Arcangel.

Cory Arcangel
~3.2023.003~2x1.2~E6

2023
Gold anodized aluminium plate (BWB-Bausilber 2 E6)
200 x 120 x 0.6 cm
78 3/4 x 47 1/4 x 0 1/4 in

Cory Arcangel
3- (14) (aluplate)

2022
Raw aluplate aluminum
200 x 100 x 0.3 cm
78 3/4 x 39 3/8 x 0 1/8 in

Cory Arcangel
Totally Fucked

Handmade hacked Super Mario Bros. cartridge, Nintendo NES video game system, artist software.
Dimensions variable

Cory Arcangel
Another Romp Thru the IP (Times Square edit), 2009-2022.

Single-channel video. (Installation view: Midnight Moment, Times Square Arts, New York, USA, March, 2022 - March, 2022) Photo: Michael Hull. Courtesy: Michael Hull for Times Square Arts.

Cory Arcangel
Mig 29 Soviet Fighter Plane, Clouds and OSX

2016
Mig 29 Soviet Fighter Plane and Clouds (2005) Nintendo Entertainment System .nes Roms, Two Macminis running OS X, Nintendo emulators (Open Emu), variable multi-channel presentation Dimensions variable

Cory Arcangel
Jeans / Lakes

2016
1920x1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from 11 lossless TIF masters), media player, 70” flatscreen, armature, various cables Dimensions variable

Cory Arcangel
FN Slides / Lakes

2016
1920x1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from 11 lossless TIFS), media player, 75” flatscreen, armature, various cables 167.8 x 95.9 x 4.8 cm 66 1/8 x 37 3/4 x 1 1/8 in

Cory Arcangel
Closing party

2016
Chromogenic print 168.2 x 96 x 4 cm 66 1/4 x 37 7/8 x 1 5/8 in

Cory Arcangel
Snowbunny / Lakes

2015
1920x1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from 11 lossless TIF masters), media player, 70” flatscreen, armature, various cables

Photoshop CS: 84 by 50 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient "Blue, Red, Yellow", mousedown y=23400 x=7500, mouseup y=600 x=7500; tool "Wand", select y=23000 x=7320, tolerance=32, contiguous=off; default gradient "Blue, Red, Yellow"

Cory Arcangel
Photoshop CS: 84 by 50 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient "Blue, Red, Yellow", mousedown y=23400 x=7500, mouseup y=600 x=7500; tool "Wand", select y=23000 x=7320, tolerance=32, contiguous=off; default gradient "Blue, Red, Yellow"

2015
C-print

Cory Arcangel
Vomit / Lakes

2015
1920x1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from_lossless Quicktime Animation master), media player, 70” flatscreen, armature, various cables 200.7 x 92.7 x 27.9 cm 79 x 36.5 x 11 in

Cory Arcangel
Misfits

2015
Foam pool noodles, garter belt, ear warmer, leggings, socks, RCA 5CD changer stereo, Avenged Sevenfold "Hail to the King" Compact Disc.

Cory Arcangel
Your Performance

2015
Foam noodles, tailored Adidas tracksuits Dimensions variable

Cory Arcangel
Clapton/Lakes

2014
1920x1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from lossless Quicktime Animation master), media player, 70” flatscreen, armature, various cables Dimensions variable

Cory Arcangel
Ideas In Action (starbucks.com)

2014
Single channel video 32 minutes 41 seconds

Cory Arcangel
Miley / Lakes

2014
1920x1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from lossless Quicktime Animation master), media player, 70" flatscreen, armature, various cables

Cory Arcangel
D’oooh

2014
Foam pool noodles, armbands, Santa Cruz skateboard. 140 cm (high), width variable, depth variable 55.1 in high width variable depth variable

Cory Arcangel
Sports Products 2 / Lakes

2014
1920x1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from lossless Quicktime Animation master), media player, 70" flatscreen, armature, various cables

Cory Arcangel
Self Playing Nintendo 64 NBA Courtside 2

2011
Hacked Nintendo 64 game console, NBA Courtside 2 (featuring Kobe Bryant) game cartridge and video. Dimensions variable Installation shot , Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark Courtesy of the artist and Sacha Maric

Cory Arcangel
Timeless Standards

2011
Inkjet print on canvas 142.24 x 101.6 cm 56 x 40 in

Cory Arcangel
Various Self Playing Bowling Games

2011
14 video games consoles (dating from 1970-2008), projected
Dimensions Variable

Cory Arcangel
Research in Motion (Kinetic Sculpture 6)

2011
Modified silver dancing stands Dimensions variable, approx 182(h) x 550(w) x 360(d)cm / 71 5/8(h) x 216 1/2(w) x 141 3/4(d) in.

Cory Arcangel
Clinton

2011
Pencil on paper 40 x 34.1 cm 15.7 x 13.4 in ed. unique

Cory Arcangel
Self Playing Nintendo 64 NBA Courtside 2

2011

Hacked Nintendo 64 video game controller, Nintendo 64 game console, NBA Courtside 2 (featuring Kobe Bryant) game cartridge, and video

Dimensions variable

Cory Arcangel
Photoshop CS: 84 by 66 inches. 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient "Blue, Red, Yellow", mousedown y=5300 x=8600, mouseup y=5600 x=8600

2011
Chromogenic print 213.36 x 167.64 cm (print) 84 x 66 in print

Cory Arcangel
Photoshop CS: 84 by 66 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient "Spectrum", mousedown y=3200 x=10200, mouse up y=22600 x=6200

2009
Framed C-Print Mounted between aluminium and plexiglass 213 x 167 cm / 83 7/8 x 65 3/4 in.