Stian Ådlandsvik and the German artist Lutz-Rainer Müller have in a drastic way reorganized all the neon lamps in the gallery, utilizing them as props to suggest possible photographic sceneries. By removing the gallery´s own illumination the artists turn the space inside out. The darkened gallery room functions as a battery, a paradoxical generator for new images. The lighting, detached from its institutional function, highlight photography´s dependence on light by constructing a kind of photograph in three dimensions. A ruined bench from the nearby park becomes a distillation of possible incidents, a garbage bin becomes a container for fantastic possibilities, and the backyard of the gallery becomes a site for immanent drama. The artists suggest new readings of the gallery´s function and of what a photography might potentially be. The gallery, devoid of light is an absurdity in itself, and might also point to the melancholic nature of photography, an absence indicating a presence. Ida Kierulf, 2008 |