general info
 
artists
 
stock
 
news
 
contact

 
gallery address:

Veembroederhof 35
1019 HD Amsterdam
Netherlands


tel. +31-6-21281428
     
   
Introduction to the body of work ‘Cathedrals’
by Laurence Aëgerter

posted: May 19, 2014
item archived since: August 31, 2014

ID P01d7e N01041

Issued as an artist book (as well as single prints),

‘Cathedrals’ is based on a facsimile book ‘Cathedrals and Churches in France’, commissioned by the French Ministery of Tourism, in order to promote French architectural heritage, edited in 1950.

The Aëgerter artist book consists of 120 photographs taken from the spread in the middle of the forementioned book. It shows a black/white photograph of the Westside of the Gothic Cathedral of Bourges, in the middle of France. Aëgerter has photographed these pages during two hours with an interval of one minute, while dark lines - caused by the window frame’s shadow in her studio - slowly pass over the reproduction in the book until finally the image is totally swallowed by darkness.

An essential aspect of Aëgerter’s artistic concept is her search for strategies to give new meaning to existing (historical) images. She has interacted with videos, paintings, photographs, posters and books by extracting from or adding elements to the original. Within the same concept, ‘Trance’ and ‘The Somnambulic Archive’ are works based on archived photographs reworked in textile and created during the past years. In these works light is a prominent issue.

Like in her previous artist books, e.g. ‘Catalogue of Masterpieces in the Louvre Museum’ (2009) and ‘Tristes tropiques: illustrations hors texte’ (2011 - in cooperation with Ronald van Tienhoven), in ‘Cathedrals’ the artist reinterpretates existing photographs in publications by developing a special system for each of them.

Lapse of time

The French book about churches and cathedrals was stored in the artist’s library. When she grabbed it because of her research for the photo series ‘Cathedrals at Sunset’ (2012), based on a poster of Claude Monet’s ‘Cathedral of Rouen’, it soon became clear to her that the book by itself could be a theme for new research. In a formal way, ‘Cathedrals at Sunset’ relates to this new project, but its contents has a different meaning and does not directly reflect time.

The images in ‘Cathedrals’ consist of a stacking of three ‘eras’. First of all the frontage of the 13th century Gothic Cathedral of Bourges, secondly the documentary photography of it in 1950 and last but not least her photographes of the image spread, including the rusty staples, in 2012.

‘Cathedrals’ is a witness of passing time. It registers the geometric play of shadow lines over the reproduction of the cathedral frontage. It is a very summary intervention, expressing a shift of minimal imagery elements. Dark lines, straight or tilted, influence the perception of the original image, resulting in alternating depths of the window parts, as well as the entrance. A closed door hit by the shadow suddenly seems open, because of the black hole. Also the intensity of the light, influenced by passing clouds, gives a radiant quality to the frontage of the cathedral. By doing this, the perception of the same image is steadily renewed, finally ending up in complete darkness by the imperturbable process. On close view, however, a zest of diffuse light still is noticeable.

‘Cathedrals’ materialises the inevitable passing of time in a systematical rhythm of variations to a bench mark, comparable to compositions in classical music. In the artist book, Aëgerter has chosen a binding in the middle that prevents it from becoming a flip book, forcing the viewer to turn the pages one by one. This strategy of slowness enhances the discovery of changing light, experience the passing of time through the intangible intervals and their effects.
 
     
 
© artaffairs.net 2024
     
      page id: n01041