Deferred time, between evocative and devastating. 1:100 Past and Present by Michael Wesely

The Fundació Mies van der Rohe and the Goethe Institut present '1:100 Past and Present', an intervention by Michael Wesely in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion that reflects on the passage of time and can be seen until 13 October 2019.

Photograph 365 days. 1:100 Past and Present by Michael Wesely. Photograph by Michael Wesely

The artist, born in 1963 in Munich is a specialist in photographs of ultra-long exposure, as a way to convey a particular sense of the passage of time. In 2017, Michael Wesely installed a camera in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion that began the process of making one of these photographs with an exposure time of 365 days.

The result is presented with a very large scale print on glass at exactly the same point from where it was taken. A disturbing image, between evocative and devastating, showing what during the time of the shot, 365 days, is permanent, with minimal traces of the activity of all the people and events that have elapsed without leaving a trace, only the light changing throughout the days paints the background and erases the landscape.

An image that talks about the permanence of space, the time of places, the immaterial of people.

In the title of the intervention, 1:100 evokes the standard scale of the architecture but in this case it is proposed as a time scale that refers to the entire year in which the artist installed a camera with uninterrupted shutter open in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion linking this period to the hundred years since the Bauhaus school was opened and now celebrated with Bauhaus100.

In addition to the image obtained in the Pavilion, two other long-exposure photographs are presented, in a format as large as the paramentos themselves that support it, creating new materialities that also challenge us about what makes up the essence of the things.

The titles, exposure time, support and size of Michael Wesely's works presented as 1:100. Past and Present are:

- "Mies van der Rohe Pavillon (2017.09.13 – 2018.09.13)", photograph on glass, 300 x 650 cm.
- "Railway station (17.29 – 17.34, 29.12.2005)", photograph in audibond, 300 x 700 cm.
- "Giverny (15.5. – 2016.11.11)", photo in aludibond, 300 x 1000 cm.

In words of the artist, "The extreme length of exposure leads to a shift in perception."

The presentation of the intervention will be this afternoon at 18:30h in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion and will feature a colloquium with the artist Michael Wesely, Joachim Jager (curator) and Ivan Blasi as moderator (Fundació Mies van der Rohe). Presentation with the Deputy Consul General of Germany in Barcelona, Theodor Proffe and the directors of the Goethe Institut, Judith Maiworm and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Anna Ramos.

Intervention. 1:100 Past and Present by Michael Wesely. Photograph by Michael Wesely

Michael Wesely working in pavilion. Photograph by Michael Wesely

Michael Wesely camera. Photograph by Michael Wesely

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More information

Label

Artist

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Michael Wesely

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Artistic curator

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Joachim Jäger

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Dates

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INTERVENTION.- Until 13 October 2019 in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion
Presentation of Michael Wesely intervention with artist talk and debate.- 26 September 2019 at 18:30h to the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion.

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Venue

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Avda. Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, 7. Barcelona, Spain

Michael Wesely

Michael Wesely. Born in 1963 in Munich, he lives and works in Berlin. 1986 - 1988 State Teaching Institution for Photography, Munich. 1988 - 1994 Academy of Fine Arts Munich.

He is a German photographer and artist, known for his photos of cities and buildings taken with a special ultra-long exposure technique. His best-known works are the series of photos in Potsdamer Platz, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), photographs of the architecture of Brasilia and Sao Paulo, as well as a series of portraits that have not yet been completed. Exhibitions, among others, in Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin); Kunsthalle (Kiel); Gemeentemuseum (The Hague); Mies van der Rohe Haus (Berlin); Biennial of Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo) and Biennial of Havana (Cuba).

Works in 1: 100. Past and present by Michael Wesely:

«Mies van der Rohe Pavillon (13.9.2017 - 13.9.2018)», photograph on glass, 300 x 650 cm.
«Railway station (17.29 - 17.34, 29.12.2005)», photograph in aludibond, 300 x 700 cm.
«Giverny (15.5. - 6.11.2016)», photograph in aludibond, 300 x 1000 cm.

Joachim Jäger

Joachim Jäger. Born in Munich, Germany. Study of art history, cultural history, and German literature. Ph.D. with a thesis on the American artist Robert Rauschenberg. 2000- 2007 curator at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Berlin.

Since 2008 head of the Neue Nationalgalerie, responsible for collection and program. Since 2012 involved in the refurbishment of the Mies-building as user representative. Since 2017 involved in all plannings for the new “Museum of the 20th Century” designed by Herzog / de Meuron. Selected exhibitions curated: William Kentridge: Journey to the moon (2007; Wolfgang Tillmans. Lighter (2008), Divided Heaven. Art between 1945-1968 (2011- 2013), Stella & Calatrava. The Michael Kohlhaas Curtain (2011), Otto Piene. More Sky (2014), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Hieroglyphs (2016/2017), Pablo Picasso x Thomas Scheibitz. Signs, stage, lexicon (2019).

Publisher and author of numerous books and articles on modern and contemporary art.

Deputy Director Nationalgalerie Berlin.
Head of Neue Nationalgalerie (Mies-building Berlin).

Published on: September 27, 2019

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