hubert blanz
Feldforschung
b/w gelatin silver print, baryta paper on dibond, acrylic glass framed, 130 x
190 cm, Hubert Blanz, 2012
Feldforschung
Anna Stuhlpfarrer
Structures and grids, as well as the diverse and broad topic of networking,
define Hubert Blanz's work. Whereas previously the artist spent weeks and
months walking along motorways or photographing entire streets, combining them
to create new spaces and landscapes, this time he turns his attention to the
organic. The Feldforschung [Field Research] series does not focus on man-made architecture, but rather on
the microstructures found in nature that arouse Hubert Blanz's interest.
Hubert Blanz is a sculptor, photographer and researcher. He approaches the
landscape in a variety of ways: virtually, as is possible today with geodata
software such as Google Earth; using specially made models; and by ‘recording’ it on site, either photographically or by removing objects from nature.
A look ‘behind the scenes’ answers some open questions. The basis for the photographic work Feldforschung 02 was a collection of different types and colours of moss, which Hubert Blanz used
to construct a new landscape in the form of a small hill. Numerous detailed
photographs, taken from a wide variety of perspectives, are reassembled, now in
black and white and inverted. Once again, it is structures, patterns and
grid-like networks – this time taken from nature – that Hubert Blanz combines into large-format photographic works in his tireless
attention to detail. We see landscapes – seemingly taken from a great height, satellite images of the Earth's surface,
and believe we recognise mountains and valleys, lakes and rivers. Only when we
get closer do the images dissolve, revealing themselves for what they really
are, turning out to be collages of lichens, leaves and mosses.
‘The images are not meant to be quotations, but maps,’ says Hubert Blanz, inviting us to play a game of perception that we are happy
to engage in.
The source material for Feldforschung 05 is also organic: using the transmitted light process, the branched internal
structure and grid-like network of leaves becomes visible, with different
colour shades created through overlays.
Hubert Blanz cuts out the leaves, cuts them up, reassembles them and uses them
to construct new landscapes and universes. He works with the medium of
alienation, reinforcing this by deliberately showing small details in enlarged
representations and consciously incorporating disturbances.
Hubert Blanz's characteristic artistic approach is also evident in the small
two-part photographic work entitled Industrial Scan – Rhizome 03. The word rhizome comes from the Greek word rhiza (= root, rootstock) and in
botany refers to an underground shoot. Something seems to be growing here, very
delicately and quietly, spreading like roots, branching out and coming together
again. We see thickened areas and individual ‘shoots’ that end in nothingness.
However, if we look again at the title of the image, the first part of which is Industrial Scan, we are led in a different direction – away from nature and into the industrial/technical realm. As with the
photographs from the Feldforschung series, a closer look suddenly reveals that we have been misled. What initially
appeared to us as a natural network from the plant world now presents itself as
a collage of various plastic pipes. These completely new photographs,
reminiscent of drawings in their filigree style, are the further development of
a series that Hubert Blanz began in 2013 when he was invited by the
Wienerberger company to develop a free artistic work related to the company.
The large-format photographic works are accompanied by a video projection that
was created in 2009. In Landgang, Hubert Blanz uses geodata software to follow in the footsteps of Charles
Darwin, who took part in a voyage around the world aboard the HMS Beagle
between 1831 and 1836. The animation sends us on a virtual scientific voyage of
discovery, showing us the world from above and taking us to a total of 24 stops
on this historic journey. Almost magically, we move away from and closer to the
Earth's surface and are once again filled with wonder. What is water here, what
is land?
And now the circle begins to close: as with the photographs, we ask ourselves
whether we can trust our perceptions. Is Hubert Blanz playing a game with us
here too? Because once again, first impressions seem to be deceptive...
Anna Stuhlpfarrerr on the solo exhibition Feldforschung, Galerie Reinthaler, Vienna, 2015
Translated with DeepL.com