translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
191112: MUSA - distURBANces
MUSA
distURBANces
30.10.2012 – 05.01.2013
Analogue, digital, as if it matters
By Nina Schedlmayer
Perhaps one could start with Hieronymus Bosch, or perhaps much later – or much earlier – e.g. with the architectural paintings in Pompeii: at least the haziness between fiction and reality is something mankind has dealt with for many a long year.
The exhibition “distURBANces” at the MUSA questions if “fiction can surpass rationality.” Curated in co-operation with the partner cities of the Month of Photography, the exhibition deals, more or less, with everything that revolves around the themes of artificial worlds, cyberspace and their relationship to analogue reality.
Artificiality is thus widely conceived and doesn’t exist solely in digital: one can slip into a rose-tinted model of a solitary residential district with the charm of the hobby bricolage by Daniel Leidenfrost, (and let yourself be enveloped in soft mist at the touch of a button), an old film by Josh Müller is based on an analogue airport-model. And the video by Leopold Kessler – in which one can watch him dumping bulk trash in a skater-pit, insinuating the Broken-Windows-Theory, cyberspace is left out.
Even if the title suggests that everything shown is seen in context with urban space, this does not apply to all the works presented here: Reiner Riedler’s colourful, almost hyper-realistic shots lead us into the worlds of entertainment and leisure time, Robert Hammerstiel’s photomontages play with South Sea elements and Ilkka Halso pulls endless architectural structures over endless foggy landscapes. Among the most exciting works are those by Dionisio Gonzáleu (he amalgamates hypermodern architecture with gloomy favelas) and by the Collectif_Fact: in their video, a group of artists invites the onlooker to a city tour by car and removes everything from sight except logos, neon signs, streetlights, signs and road markings – huge advertisement messages take up most of the space.
The exhibition introduces some exciting positions that were unknown in Vienna until now, e.g. Niklas Goldbach or Peter Bialobrzeski. However, the exhibition appears too much like a compromise. What is missing is a well thought through concept that could reclaim new facets from the leading question.
MUSA
1010 Vienna, Felderstrasse 6-8, next to the Rathaus
Tel: +43 1 4000 8400
Fax: + 43 1 4000 99 8400
email: musa@musa.at
http://www.musa.at
Opening hours: Tue – Fri: 11.00 – 18.00 hours, Thu: 11.00 – 20.00 hours, Sat 11.00 – 16.00 hours
191112
MUSA
1010 Wien, Felderstraße 6-8, neben dem Rathaus
Tel: +43 (0)1 4000 8400, Fax: +43 (0)1 4000 99 8400
Email: musa@musa.at
http://www.musa.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di - Fr: 11:00 - 18:00, Do: 11:00 - 20:00, Sa: 11:00 - 16:00 Uhr
MUSA
1010 Wien, Felderstraße 6-8, neben dem Rathaus
Tel: +43 (0)1 4000 8400, Fax: +43 (0)1 4000 99 8400
Email: musa@musa.at
http://www.musa.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di - Fr: 11:00 - 18:00, Do: 11:00 - 20:00, Sa: 11:00 - 16:00 Uhr