Archive
Props & Prosthesis
Reverberations of the Body in Contemporary Austrian Art
In the field of art, one of the prevalent issues regarding the body metaphor deals with process of visualizing the other self, which goes beyond the representation of typical female or male characteristics, but crosses the boundaries of what is anatomically possible, and culturally as well as socially feasible. Jacques Lacan’s mirror stage as the central moment when the subject perceives its reverse, other identity, can be seen as the starting point for the reflection of photographic dispositions of the self, its visual alterations, distortions and cultural forms of recognition. Props & Prostheses shows various modes of how artists living and working in Austria approach the limits of physicality in scenarios whose contents stem from moments in real life, but whose visuality transcends the question of the human condition as such.
Sabine Bitter/Helmut Weber
Bitter/Weber’s b& w photo series Super Citizens explores cityscapes and the inherent necessity of people who enliven public space. Shot mainly in Venezula, Bitter/Weber’s photo series graphically animates the architecture of cities, which is secondary to public life in such places. By focusing on an architecture which has lost its function due to social changes and the forces of dilapidation, Bitter/Weber demonstrate the importance of human behavior and movements in space in order to shape very specific social and architectural identities.
Gyula Fodor
Gyula Fodor’s large scale series Eat Me of 15 photographs treats one of the most obscene occurrences in recent (body) history. In his photographs, Fodor re-stages the interaction of two German men, who established contact via Internet in order to meet for a cannibal session. Having sex and being physically devoured meets the tradition of a Greenaway scenario, where many props are needed to achieve the effect of the real. Fodor achieves a similar approach via photography, except that his narrative is based upon a true story. read more
