Munich; ‘ZOOM! PICTURING ARCHITECTURE AND THE CITY ‘ Architekturmuseum at Pinakothek der Moderne

by Venetia Kapernekas

2.4.2015-21.6.2015

A crowded Pinakothek der Moderne last night preview opening to celebrate a fabulous exhibition “Zoom!Picturing Architecture and the City” curated by Dr Andres Lepik and Hilde Strobl. Amazingly presented.. Congrats to Dr Lepik and his team.

“The exhibition presents photographs and video works by eighteen contemporary international photographers. Their images focus on the complex interrelations among society, architecture, and urban spaces. They provide insight into how buildings actually operate once the building contractors have left the premises, and how city and town structures are impacted by economic factors, as well as their inhabitants’ social and cultural backgrounds. The evident failures often occurring in the planning or modification of buildings point to specific conclusions about people’s actual needs….”

….Images from Germany’s Oberpfalz region of Bavaria are exhibited next to images from Italy, Nigeria, and China, for instance, and the juxtapositions make similarities and differences quite apparent…..

On show are photographs and video works by Iwan Baan, Roman Bezjak, Peter Bialobrzeski, Lard Buurman, Stefan Canham and Rufina Wu, Nuno Cera, Livia Corona, Nicoló Degiorgos, Jörg Koopmann, Eva Leitolf, Myrzik und Jarisch, Stefan Olàh, Julian Röder, Simona Rota, Andreas Seibert, Wolfgang Tillmans, Fabian Vogl, and Tobias Zielony.

A two channel still video installation by Wolfgang Tillmans “Book of Architects’,2014 is eye catching. “…Book of Architects is not a book design but a video installation, presented as a looped projection of still images on two walls. My interest is not typological approach, but to show a sequence and an arrangement of images that echo what examples of the built environment look and feel like to me.” (Wolfgang Tillmans).

WOLFGANG TILLMANS, BOOK FOR ARCHITECTS, INSTALLATIONSANSICHT BIENNALE VENEDIG, 2014© Wolfgang Tillmans

Quite impressive the photographs “Instant Village”, 2010-2015 by Simona Rota “…The series ‘Instant Village’ arose out of the personal experiences of the photographer, who lived for several years in the Canary Islands and witnessed the developments there as tourism rose and fell. These works address a much broader theme, though – how we handle landscape as a resource. Rota sheds light on the role of the financial market and the disparity between short term market trends and the long terms impact of failed construction projects on their surroundings.”