+

Hanz Koontz

Kootzs’ art visually manipulates social / historical perspectives. Koontz argues that collectively governments and the media function to manipulate and influence the human condition, instilling socio-economic and political conflict that alienates populations.

Koontz questions the ownership of material that functions  as a form commercial / political propaganda, imagery that promotes a manipulated sequence of events. Koontz aims to reinterpret and progress visual material current and historical in the form of a digital pastiche, incorporating a narrative that renders the original context of the imagery as questionable.

His works often focus on restricted areas such as conflict zones / war, Koontz argues the physical inaccessibility to an environment or the ownership of material is contextually restrictive, and this gives opportunity to subversion / manipulation, witch perpetuates misinformation.

The artist incorporates a visual technology that is widely used as a secondary decorative afterthought, a relatively inexpensive software format. His works exist as a computer generated programme - a screensaver, trivial by nature something viewed for a period and dismissed or replaced.

Koontz developed this format over several years arguing  “I need my art to be assessable to a wide audience, social consciousness is at the core of my practice and online  distribution of art / information is a greater reach ”.

Originally, art works were distributed via online file sharing sites as a torrent files but with the legal clampdown on these sites selected works have been made available to engage with online.