The Fifth Face

c-print, diasec on dibond, Hubert Blanz, 2010–2021

The Art of Change

Christoph Thun-Hohenstein

Every modernity calls for a fundamental reorientation, and this reorientation not only requires a holistic view but also visionary ideas from artists and creatives. Including visual arts is important for the simple reason that they use other methods and introduce entirely other imaginary spaces than applied arts, such as design and architecture. Hubert Blanz works at the interface between human civilisation carried to extremes and coolly calculated digitalisation. Many of his works are difficult to imagine without digitalisation, yet these too manage to overcome the digital-mechanical complex that increasingly rules our everyday lives and find meaning beyond digital boundaries.

Possibly even more important is the artist’s fascination for what he depicts (or more precisely: assembles) in his works. This can be noticed in his ongoing series of works titled The Fifth Face. For instance, the recently completed image The Fifth Face 03 is a concave view onto the illuminated night sky of Chicago from the “observation decks” Willis Tower (previously Sears Tower) and John Hancock Center. Having visited these observation decks myself, I can understand the fascination for this view on urban civilisation from above. Blanz emphasizes this fascination by making traffic routes and supply lines of a metropolis visible – in the artist’s words, “a different structure, which remains hidden by day”. Both most recent works from these series show a view from above. In the digital collage The Fifth Face 04, it is one of the roofs of large production halls and industrial facilities in East and Southeast Asia. To the artist’s mind, with regards to their density and variety, factories’ roofs there are much more interesting and potentially visualise the relocation of production to the Asian region also on this level. In the ink blue, graphically geometrical structure in The Fifth Face 05, on the other hand, the sky is reflected in the photovoltaic and solar systems of the earth, which are particularly common on rooftops in the U.S. and Europe. Again, Hubert Blanz’s fascination for these roofs is palpable, and as with The Fifth Face 03 it is hard for viewers to escape it, too.

So, is Hubert Blanz glorifying large cities and global industrial production? Or, to the contrary: Isn’t he criticizing the enormous CO2 footprint of these megacities that never sleep and are the cause of great light pollution – despite all concentration? Is he castigating mass production of a rampant, fossil industrial society? None of these: Blanz’s pictures from this and other series are neither homages nor plump criticism. His digital-savvy fascination for the depicted creates something else entirely: ambivalence. We are amazed at the quality of the digital collages and the sheer endless amounts of photographs used to make them and ask ourselves what, regardless of all digital virtuosity and photographic creativity, the artist wants to express with them? And suddenly these images trigger something in us, and we realise what this is. The ambivalence they emanate draws us to a key issue and helps us realise that we should deal with it much more – not least due to the question that is resonating all the time: how, in fact, we define progress and what kind of progress we desire…

Abstract by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein from: The Art of Change – Thoughts on the oeuvre of Hubert Blanz in Hubert Blanz – In Search of Radiant Cities, p. 6–11, VfmK Verlag für moderne Kunst, 2022

Translation: Jeanette Pacher, Vienna

The urban space

Petra Noll

In the photographs exhibited here, Hubert Blanz explores the “big city” as a living space, as well as the urban systems and architectures that organise life for masses of people. The images are equally influenced by his fascination with the functional and creative potential of cities and by references to the shortcomings of urban structures. In the Roadshow series, he took screenshots of satellite images of real road networks, transport hubs and bridges in various cities and “built” hundreds of images – deliberately twisted and shifted – layer by layer into confusing, deep-spatial labyrinths. The roads dominate the space, but they are ineffective because they are not connected to each other; they lead nowhere. A visionary image of a possible urban development is presented, in which orientation could become difficult. The Fifth Face 02, part of a series, is based on photos taken from different perspectives in 2012 in Chicago from viewing platforms. They refer not only to the current issue of surveillance, but also to the lack of space in megacities: the ‘fifth façade’, the flat roof, is becoming increasingly important as additional usable space. The chaos of buildings and the absence of people visible in the photo are reminiscent of an urban apocalyptic scenario. The Urban Codes series was created on foot over several months in Chicago at night, in which Blanz explores light, one of the most significant elements of the city. In each photo, he has combined numerous illuminated office skyscrapers. The result is an overwhelming grid-like structure of light in which each building nevertheless has an individual aura that seems to be decoded by a kind of light code.

Petra Noll on the exhibition Das Glück liegt auf der Straße – Urban Space,

Municipal Museum Neuötting, Germany, 2015

Translated with DeepL.com

The Fifth Face – Chicago / New York

Barabara Egger

The view from above has become a dominant feature of Hubert Blanz’s work, whether from original or manipulated photographs and satellite images. This perspective provides a unique overview of a whole situation while permitting specific observations that, due to the physical distance, assert a claim to objectivity. In architecture, the fifth face refers to the roof of a building designed to represent a fifth facade. However, in many cases, and especially in the case of skyscrapers, the fifth face is often neglected in terms of its aesthetic design. Historically, it has predominantly been used for practical purposes such as ventilation, heating or cooling devices, and even as parking spaces. However, in recent years the roof has gained prominence as a versatile and attractive space. The fifth face is increasingly designed as luxurious terraces with spectacular views, sports facilities and recreational areas, gardens and vegetable plots belonging to gourmet restaurants. In many cities there exists a dichotomy between neglect and luxury when it comes to the fifth face.

These spaces can feel disconnected from the urban and human context as a result of their elevated position overlooking the city. The view from above distorts and distances the photographer from his subjects below. Hubert Blanz has sought to capture this sensation in his images, recreating and exaggerating the effect. Accessing the luxury spaces Blanz turned his lens on the neglected spaces of Chicago’s inner circle from various perspectives.

Combining single images into a collage (The Fifth Face 02) Blanz creates a new view of the city. One without a single perspective and that recalls the pictorial language of cubism. Blanz produced The Fifth Face 02 during a residency in Chicago. Both the methodology and subject matter of this project have greatly influenced his subsequent works, and we can see the continuation of these themes in his London Homeseekers series.

Barbara Egger on the solo exhibition Homeseekers, Austrian Cultural Forum London, 2013