Zilvinas Kempinas was born in Plunge, Lithuania in 1969, he lives and works in New York.
Kempinas creates site specific installations using materials such as unspooled video tape in order to transform physical spaces into environments of illusion. His installations seamlessly integrate precise geometry, space and light. They work together to provide the viewer with a new way of experiencing a familiar space.
“I am attracted to things that are capable of transcending their own banality and materiality to become something else, something more. I like the way that videotape is simultaneously delicate and durable, since it’s meant to last. I can rip it easily with my hands because it’s so thin, but I can also stretch it. Videotape is made to present the world in color, but it appears purely black. It’s supposed to be this safe container of the past, but it is destined to vanish like a dinosaur, to become obsolete, pushed away by new technologies. It’s a familiar mass-produced commodity, but it can be surprisingly sensual and can look almost alive if set in motion. It can be seen as a solid, thick, black line, but it can also disappear right in front of your eyes if it’s turned on its side”.