Under the headword private we present three artists exploring the question in which ways and on which various levels the public penetrates the private. By looking at the intimacy of their own private sphere, the artists reflect on the structuring element of the social and the political. The question which necessarily arises is how much privacy of one’s home there actually is or can be.
Arnis Balcus is a relentless photo reporter of the private. In his work Myself – Friends – Lovers and Others, he overcomes the barrier between the public and the private.
With his camera as an accomplice, he searches for and captures moments of cordiality and intimacy. The result is a portrait of his own experiences and that of his generation.
The pictures that enwrap us in Klaus Pamminger‘s installations from Everyday patterns. appear as a beautiful pattern at first glance, a beautiful wall decoration of a cozy, private ambience. At a closer examination, however, it becomes clear that the patterns are fed with the daily flood of pictures in today’s media reporting which invade our homes via TV and tell of horror (war, danger, catastrophes, …) He confronts us with the often fatalistic attitude towards world affairs – the ignorance towards the perceived.
Franz Bergmüller‘s photo objects remind us, by the form of their presentation, of the exhibits of a natural historical collection. In the tradition of puppets (jumping jacks), they can escape from their rigidity for a short moment, but they stay over-directed nevertheless. The artist thus expresses his ambivalent attitude towards social norms and daily constraints, thereby referring to his wish to free himself from predetermined patterns of behaviour.