Beate Gütschow and Laure Winants at Foto Arsenal Wien

The new center of photographic images and lens-based media in Austria is presenting solo shows by artists Beate Gütschow and Laure Winants and curated by Felix Hoffmann.

Overview

Resistance, Flood, Fire, Resistance by Beate Gütschow

Dystopian situations with people standing on the edge of an abyss, landscapes devoid of humans, and deserted villages—it takes a second look to realize that these photographs depict crowds of protesters, remains of civilization-related interventions after flood disasters, or traces of fires that have ravaged forests and landscapes. These events did not take place just anywhere on the globe in the past years; they all happened in Germany.

Within weeks of the events, Beate Gütschow visited these places. In long-term photographic studies, she develops antitheses that counter the conventional images of catastrophes spread by the media. Her images are quieter, encouraging an emotional and analytical response. Gütschow is also part of the climate justice movement, documenting activities such as occupations and demonstrations as a participant and chronicler—an insider’s perspective—and transforming them into diary-like entries that tell of experiences and encounters on site as well as reflect on the political context and the psychological impact of global warming.

From A Tongue We Are Losing by Laure Winants

How does light filter our perception? What do icebergs sound like? What does a printout of the chemical composition of water look like? For her photography project From a Tongue We Are Losing, which is being presented at the Klima Biennale Wien, the artist joined a team of multidisciplinary researchers embarking on a four-month expedition to the ice of the Arctic—a vast white desert in which humans make up only a minute part of the environment.

Winants has developed special techniques to capture the unique light phenomena of this special region. She makes the data tangible and emotionally perceptible, highlighting the interdependence of ecosystems. In the experimental series Time Capsule, which is also presented in the exhibition, Winants explores the phenomena of light and color in the Arctic. These works are prints of photograms onto which forms cut out of ice were applied. While they reveal the structure of the crystals, they also cast a shadow on certain elements that have been present for millions of years.

Foto Arsenal Wien is showing approximately twenty-five works by Laure Winants in a solo show at the MQ Salon.