Tuesday, October 30, 2012

michael anastassiades: time and again/ MAK geymüllerschlössel, vienna

I cannot believe I haven't posted these images until now. When I was first in Vienna last May, Michael Anastassiades' intervention at the MAK Geymüllerschlössel had just opened and everyone was raving about how beautiful it was. Of course I had a short amount of time in Vienna (packed with photo shoots) and so I missed it. But to my good fortune the show was still up when I returned in August! So on my last rainy Saturday, I ventured up to this amazing house filled with Biedermeier that is now the MAK Geymüllerschlössel.
I am drawn to Anastassiades' work for his extreme pared away simplicity. His restraint harks back to Brancusi in my mind. But this intervention is more than Anastassiades' beautiful objects in amazing Biedermeier interiors. In some rooms there is sound. It is quiet, so you hardly notice, but it is oddly affecting. In one particular room, the sound of clocks, heartbeats and whispers made me feel like I was entering into a room that was existing in two separate times (second to last image). I felt like there was a seance happening in another time that I could hear, or feel somehow. I guess that sounds kooky, but I don't know how else to explain it. The more I shot, the more I saw, the more I felt. The effect of this show is subtle and I think it can be easy to miss if you are just walking through. The key is to spend some time. The longer you stay in a room, the more it permeates you.
The show is open until November 25. If you couldn't already tell, I highly recommend a visit.
Thanks to the MAK and curator Thomas Geisler for allowing me to shoot.
All images MAK Geymüllerschlössel, 2012. ©Leslie Williamson






2 comments:

  1. love your description of this place, and these photos -- thank you for the peek (for those of us who can't make it to vienna!)

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