Projection. Chan, EXPORT, Fischli/Weiss, Gander, Gillick, Graham, Knoebel, Parker, Streuli
Kunstmuseum Luzern, 9.9.-26.11.2006
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, 28.9.2007-13.1.2008
Photos: Maschek / Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, works of art © the artists
The exhibition ‘Projection’ devotes itself to an exciting theme in artistic practice since the late 1960s, as well as the interdisciplinary pictorial research of contemporary art history. The history of the projection of the (usually standing) image is an activity that involves many different academic approaches, bringing into play the histories of technology, architecture and the media, the art-historical historiography and the aesthetics of perception. ‘Projection’ can be seen both in the extended and in the technical sense: as a ‘throwing’ of a thought in the immaterial sense (the ‘internal image’ of the imagination) or as the ‘throwing’ of an image against an opposite wall, which catches it (as an image which may, in a media-theory sense, occupy the place of the ‘internal image’, or merge with it). The exhibition goes a step further than this, and attempts to bring the ‘throwing of the picture’ back from its historically significant function as a pictorial projection of art history, to its role as a space and time-based medium, and present it explicitly for discussion once more. Architectural space is involved to the extent that it traditionally assumes the part of the opposite pole of the projection, and, as a screen, in turn demonstrates a vocabulary of surface, lighting and spatial and abstract responses. The ‘throwing’ of the image thus becomes a casting of shadows as well, and embodies one of the most important parameters of three-dimensional design – the spatialisation of architecture as built and as constructed on paper.
The exhibition does not deal solely with the technical form of traditional projection with slides, as in the exhibition ‘Slide Show’ (organised by Baltimore Museum of Art, 2005), which provided the first historical overview of both early and contemporary works of slide projection in the medium’s history in the artistic context. Explicitly understood as an essayistic exhibition, it can only stimulate reflection in isolated instances, and does anything but seek to provide a comprehensive treatment of the wide field of projection. In addition, it does not seek to restrict itself to the formal level of projection, and restrict itself to a single medium. Instead, an ‘idea projectionis’ stands at the centre as a leitmotif whose parameters of light, light projection, picture, picture-surface/screen and spatialisation in the broadest sense are presented for contemplation.
The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the Graphische Sammlung ETH, Zurich, the Museum of Art Lucerne and the Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, to present works from the Museum’s own collection along with additional loans in such a way as to illustrate particular questions, and to encourage the exchange of collections in a sensible way.
Curated by Susanne Neubauer.
A catalogue was published at Revolver Publishing.