I n t e r s p a c e s

Andrej Pirrwitz’s photographic works move between objective reality and abstraction, between order and disorder, between already existing conditions and staged situations. From a technical point of view they lay claim to natural simplicity, as Andrej Pirrwitz never employs technical aids to change the natural appearance of the photographs, either when taking them or afterwards. He dispenses deliberately with artificial illumination of the motifs; the instant of pressing the release decides the detail, the perspective and the composition of the picture. Afterwards, no distortion or alteration and no computer processing technique is allowed to interfere with the picture that has come into being. Pirrwitz’s photos formulate questions about the possibility of harmony between the individual and the world around him, a world that no longer corresponds to the familiar structures but one that is subject to constant change.

In the series Places of Escape empty factory wings dominate; these are places which are partially occupied by the homeless today – places where industrial waste tells of lives that have been lived. These are places that have been deliberately sought out by Andrej Pirrwitz, places to which the qualified physicist and self-taught artist has a personal affinity. The derelict and dusty buildings are often relics of social change. They have been abandoned and destroyed and very often experience unintended use by new residents. From the way these places have been designed for the photographs it is easy to get a sense of past and present life. As Places of Escape they function simultaneously as places of retreat, offering the possibility of withdrawal from the hectic, fast-moving and changing world.

In person from pusan the room is flooded with sunlight and filled with black tyres, among which brightly coloured garments are arranged that dominate and enliven the dark right-hand side of the picture. On the left, the red of the clothing of the person from pusan shines out of the mainly bright atmosphere; in a squatting position she looks to the ground, fusing harmoniously in her vivid red clothing with the whole composition of the picture. In general, this figure moves between order und disorder, thereby calling our attention to the position of the human being in a world that manifests itself in this manner. Even though the individual fits harmoniously into the changing world between construction and natural simplicity, the title person from pusan points to the difficulty of developing a clear and authentic identity in a changing world away from his home.

A further part of the series Places of Escape is devoted to photographs, in which no human being appears, but in which the manner of presentation of the scene is emphasized. In blue submarine the colour blue, as the title suggests, dominates. The calm transparency represented by the reflection of the blue sky in the pool in the forefront of the picture provides a strong element of contrast to the restiveness suggested by the background. An accumulation of several strips of plastic as well as sheets of paper and cardboard, harmoniously arranged with regard to colour and structure, dominate the background. The balance between the uneasy dynamics and the calmness is emphasized here both by the dominance of the blue as also by the reflection in the water and by the presence of the individually appearing items of refuse. A picture of the harmony between chaos and order, between dynamic and calmness is the result. The viewer is given no answers to this abstract subject. On the contrary, it is disconcerting for the viewer's unequivocal standpoint in a world that is also constantly changing between certainty and uncertainty. It is exactly this aspect that becomes clear here and thus the notion of the impossibility of a decisive position is imparted.

Places of Escape , the title of the series, implies an escapist moment that refers to modern life against the background of a world that manifests itself as hectic - a world that finds itself in a state of constant change. From time to time every individual yearns for the possibility to flee the daily turmoil. Simultaneously, the photographs, in which scenes of cold, dilapidated, industrial architecture dominate, pose the question of whether it is possible to find a place of absolute harmony anywhere today.

A further series is entitled Fleeing Fairies and is characterised by the portrayal of blurred female nude figures. The female appears as a fairy, an archaic figure that corresponds as naked beauty in an immaterial manner to the cool, dilapidated interiors. Here again, the backgrounds, against which the photographs were taken, change between already existing scenes and artificially produced situations.

2 walls between us affords a view of an interior divided into several plots by medium-high walls; bright daylight entering through a large window on the left floods the interior of the room. Support posts are positioned between the floor and ceiling, thereby completing the structure and producing a rigid system dominated by horizontal and vertical lines. A grey-green colour palette underlines the stillness that prevails in the room. The atmosphere of calmness is enlivened by the appearance in the right-hand side of the picture of a nude who at this instant is putting on or taking off a light, yellow top. The nude – as an immaterial appearance - seems to be coming from nowhere while already preparing to disappear. The title 2 walls between us makes it possible to read the picture as a narrative, as a metaphor of the insurmountable distance between two people, preventing them from coming together. The separating function of the walls predominates, despite the fact that they are only medium-high. And together with the vertically situated architectural elements they form an enclosure system for the human being. 2 walls between us tells the story of two people and their unfulfilled yearning for unity in view of a strict external framework.

In yellow vinyl the title directs attention to a yellow plastic element in the lower right corner of the picture which corresponds starkly to the female nude appearing parallel to the column in the background on the right. Once again, an interior dominates and is characterised by an encompassing system of horizontal and vertical lines. It is illuminated by bright sunshine and is empty except for the many white splinters lying on the cold concrete ground, forming a small pattern as a counterpart to the plastic element. Considering these desolate and seemingly deserted surroundings, the gesture of the nude seems meaningless; she lifts her right arm as if to make a sign, but there is nobody present that she might address.

The series Fleeing Fairies tells of unrequited longing for help and support from beautiful, magical and demonic beings that live in springs, in the woods, in caves or on faraway islands providing solace for human beings in a world of increasing emptiness.

The third series sounds like a consequential follow-up to the subjects already discussed and carries the title The Fairies have disappeared. Andrej Pirrwitz consciously dispenses here with the female nude portrayals; these have disappeared – perhaps in consideration of an increasingly cold and forbidding world. In this series, precedence is given to illustrations of desolate interiors, some of which are already in the process of being demolished; a few individual elements recall the earlier presence of fairies.

Shower rooms affords a view of seven shower entrances, from which the doors have already been removed so that a definite composition is produced by the horizontal and vertical lines that can be seen in diagonal echelons. While cleaning rags and the handle of a scrubbing brush in the forefront suggest the one-time presence of humans, this reference is not explicit. The shower rooms appear to be unused and the picture gives a cold, bleak and somewhat deserted impression. In the presence of such coldness and emptiness even the yearning for redemption through imaginary fabulous or mythical creatures has become obsolete.

In single case a deserted red chair stands out as a composition in its own right at the end of a corridor of white rooms, one after the other in echelon formation. Perhaps an imaginary fairy had just been sitting in this chair and has now disappeared. Within the picture the chair proceeds to become a symbol of human desolation and abandonment in a world, in which coldness, emptiness and lack of colour dominate. The implication in the title single case is, however, the opposite; it suggests in a narrative manner that it is by no means only the individual that is affected by this loneliness and desolation.

In the photographs of the three series Places of Escape, Fleeing Fairies, and The Disappearance of the Fairies existential questions are posed formally in various ways about the possibility of an authentic identity, of a clear and unambiguous position and about the support potential of mythical creatures in a world that is constantly changing between order and chaos, between artificiality and simplicity. Due to the common theme dealt with at various levels in the three series, these can be considered separately or in correlation with each other.

All the photographs comprise the early work of Andrej Pirrwitz, as he has been working for only about two years in this medium. In the exhibitions accompanied by this catalogue
Andrej Pirrwitz’s work is being presented for the first time to a broader audience. The viewer is confronted here with reflections on a world, which both formally and also with regard to contents, is anchored somewhere between the aesthetic and the non-aesthetic, the beautiful, harmonious and the less beautiful, in other words, among the disharmonious forces.
Formulated as interspaces in the truest sense of the word they call attention to aspects of contemporary life. However, they suggest no clear solution for a way out of the paradox that characterizes life today. And the question about the possible end of the intermediate stage also remains unanswered.

Meike Behm, 2005

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