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Gabor Osz

Gábor Ősz
Three by Three
07.04.2013 > 16.06.2013

Central to the subdued and aesthetic highly refined work of Gábor Ősz is a series of studies on the (in) ability of images to grasp and display reality. General concepts of time, space and movement are the cor- nerstones of his investigative project.

During the past decade, Gábor Ősz has conducted some analytical experiments that return to the es- sence of analogue photography and the ontology of the film image, and such frequently asked questions as: What defines the realistic content of the image? What constitutes the image? How does the static image relate itself to a moving reality? In almost all of the works the artist reflect about the actual moment when images are created, how they are to emerge from the continuous action of reality and acquire a different status. From the experiments in which Ősz examined these issues pertaining to the image, he distilled 9 projects whose content can be divided into 3 clusters. In Three by Three, the complete series of photographs and film works that reflect these experiments are brought together for the first time in an exhibition, which unveils the title of the exhibition.

The first phase of Ősz’ research deals with the ability of the image to visualize our perception of external reality, using as a starting point the relationship between the human observer and the space that sur- rounds him. Fascinated by the architecture from the period of the Third Reich, Gábor Ősz comes to the conclusion that buildings are more accurately defined by one’s view gazing outwards towards the external world from within the architectural structure rather than vice versa. In order to allow outward viewing to form an integral part of grasping a particular building, he develops a formula whereby the interior space is used as a camera obscura, a practice which he gives the term Camera Architectura. By applying this tech- nique, unique photographic prints arise that, through extended exposure times, present the landscape as atmospheric images with a timeless aesthetic dimension. In all of these projects various locations are relieved of their historical baggage to become analytical instruments in the study of image forming. They are hereby neutralized and gain an abstract character.

The series The Liquid Horizon (1999-2002) came from experiments in this phase, from which 6 works can be seen in PAKHUIS +2. They form a picture of the view from the observation rooms of bunkers overlooking the Atlantic Wall during WW II. In the adjoining room and also distributed throughout PAKHUIS +1 and the OFFICE, 6 pieces in total are shown as part of the Prora Project (2002). This project focuses on the unfinished KDF-Seebad vacation resort on the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea, a megalomaniac Nazi project that provided all workers with an equally advantageous view of the sea. With the endless corridors as sources of illumination and a mobile unit scanning room after room as a camera obscura device, unique prints are created that exist of multilevel, identical impressions. Das Fenster (2012-2013), which uses the panoramic window from Hitler’s former study room of in the Berghof retreat as its starting point, is the final piece of this cluster. The presentation of this work spanning the GALLERIE and GREAT HALL consists of photographic works, two 16mm film installations and a monumental projection that forms the focal point. The artist cre- ates a link between the design of the window, the view of the magnificent mountain scenery and the ma- licious mastermind behind the regime. In his experiment, he examines our attitude toward the image and how this understanding can provide the complex relationship between why, how and what we observe. He takes the relationship or aspect ratio of the disproportionate window as a starting point to reconstruct a picture of the panoramic view. The immense overall picture (4 × 8m) is an HD movie image that is presen- ted in Cinemascope format, corresponding to the original size. The image is divided into grids as a mosaic composed of independent analogue video recordings in various formats.

A second series of three interrelated projects emphasises the problematic characteristics of photography, such as optical illusions, that undermine the veracity and status of the process as a credible carrier of information. This work plays with the positive-negative process of analogue photography. In the SMALL HALL the dual work, The Colours of Black-and-White (2009), is shown. The pictures nearly form a diptych, being complementary to each other in a logical context. One image shows an interpretation of the other. Parallel to the photographic work, Ösz has made a film of the same staging in his studio with the title From Pigment to Light (2009). This HD projection, shown in the gallery, reflects extensive research into the uncanny effect of photography in reversing light and dark colour pigments. Such research is also a central aspect to Blow- Up (2010), a work that carries a direct metaphorical reference to the eponymous film by Antonioni, while also containing duplicated images in photos and film. Here we see an attempt to penetrate to the essence of the image, in order to gain access to unavoidable invisibility.

What happens when you manipulate the identity of an image? In his third and most recent phase of the research process Gábor Ősz alludes to the self-referential nature of film images and how they generate each other. This results in the projects Ontology (2010) and Tautology (2012), presented astride each other in the GALLERIE, alluding to an experiment where two identical copies of a film are projected on top of each other, while the artist reflects on the blank white projection field that presents itself to the eye. The image loses its content, but it is not empty or meaningless: one image can represent all existing images. It could be the beginning of everything or of nothing. The beginning of everything that is already there, but not yet visible. The empty projection field in the space is filmed; that filming projected and filmed again. By repeating this movement several times until the camera finally zooms in upon the very first take of the empty screen, the artist uncovers a little more understanding of the complex DNA of the image. A yet unfinished work, which will be entitled Phenomenology, also belongs to this last cluster. A presentation of digital collages in the MUSEUM on the first floor, gives an insight into the mechanism of this experiment.