Aziz/Cucher Fend/Ghaikin N ei di ch

Baltz Fleischer Perkovic/Baltz

Bookchin,/Manovich Gerz Probst
Brodsky H al l Rogala
Burgin Hershman Selichar
Burson Huber/Pocock Shaw
Colvin Van Lamsweerde Trülzsch
Cottingham Legrady D'Urbano
Ensdorf Lord Van Der Kaap
Export Mül l er-P ohl e Wähner

Photography
afterPhotograph
Memoryand Representationin the DigitalAge

Edited by Hubertusv. Amelunxen, StefanIglhaut, Florian Rötzer

in collaborationwith
AlexisCasseland NikolausG. Schneider

A P roject of S iem e n s K u lt u rp ro g ra mm

in collaborationwith

Aktionsforum Praterinsel,München (Germany)

KunsthalleKrems (Austria)
StadtischeGalerie Erlangen (Germany)
Brandenburgische KunstsammlungenCottbus(Germany)
Museet for Fotokunst,Odense(Denmark)
FotomuseumWinterthur (Switzerland)
Finnish Museum of Photography,Helsinki (Finland)
Institute of ContemporaryArt, Philadelphia(USA)
Adelaide Festival(Australia)

CB Arts
lmprint

Exhibition

Concept & realization Hubertusv. Amelunxen, Stefanlglhaut, Florian Rötzer

Coordination/Organisation Alexis Cassel
Assistance(concept) Perditav. Kraft
Assistance(organisation) Christoph Kleppel, Simone Fey
Public Relations Leonore Leonardy

Transport SpeditionSeb.Bauer,Raubling/N4unichAirport
Insurance ArtscopeInternational,Mannheim

Gatalogue

Editors Hubertusv. Amelunxen, StefanIglhaut, Florian Rötzer

in collaborationwith Alexis Cassel,Nikolaus G. Schneider
Assistance(editing) Christoph Kleppel
Proof reading Alexis Cassel,SusanneEser,Nikolaus G. Schneider

Translators Pauline Cumbers, Libby Fink, SheilaGogol, Gila Walker

Design/Typesetting Harold Vits & bureau für gestaltung,Mannheim

Lithography/Print Steidl,Göttingen, printed on arctic nature book

ISBN 9o-57or-ror-B

@ 1996OPA (OverseasPublishersAssociation)AmsterdamB.V. and SiemensKulturprogramm,Munich

All rights reserved.
Authorsand photographers.

Publishedunder Licence by:

G+B Arh
G+B Arts is an imprint of G+B Arts International

Cover illustration Inez van Lamsweerde,Sasja9o-6o-9o, rg9z (cf. p. zr3)

308
 MctorBurgin ThomasDreher

A n g e lu sNo vu s

PictorialandTextualSigns
Victor Burgin's main form of piesentationsince r97r has beel seriesof photo-
texts:the textsexplicitly exemPli|/ing how photographsmay be analyzed
''97)
semantically.In VI and Lei Feng (rgl+) the English concept artistwas
preoccupiedwith the differenceand the connectionbetweenthe semantics
specific io textsand to pictorial images.Since his Porlrait of Waldo Lydecker
and A suii)re,in r99r, Br-rrginhas been reducing textual signsto insertions
of just a few words into sequencesof digitized and re-workedphotographicraw
material.
In AngehrsNloyus(rqql) Burgin expandsa front view of a woman'sface into a
triptyJh by addiry, on either side of the portrait,photographsof a Second
Wtria War bo-b b.ing dropped- one of which is reversed.The face of the
yolrng woman is an excerptfrom a photographwhich Burgin took in rg8o
tr, , Jr..t in Lyon (cf. Lyon, rg8o).Burgin fed the mechanicalphoto-reproduc
tions into a digitized processorunder real light conditionsby meansof a
scanner.the iitle of ih. work is a referenceto Walter Benjamin'sphilosophy
of history as expressedin his essayon Paul Klee'sdrawingAngelusNovus
(r9zo),a work which Benjamin owned until his flight to Parisin June ry4o'
(cf. Scholem,Werckmeister)

IconicCodesandDigitization
Burgin's use of computer-ass]sted image processingin AngelusI\ovus impairs
the iepresentationaflegibility of the black and white photographsasa resultof
modificationsin the tones,but it doesnot dispensewith it altogether.These
modificationsin the photographicraw materialthemselvesreferto the pictorial
historyof light-drrk url.,.s: this differentiation(Luhmann) of light-darkvalues
was achievedwith the aid of analoguemeansof production - both the manual
meansof graphicsand painting and the mechanical meansof photography.
"chiaroscuro
Thus i" Bltgi"'s AngelusNoyus a fr-rsiontakesplace betweenthe
of the photographic image" (Bur gin ry7), now the digiti zed rmage,and the
"paintärly" fäaturegeneratedby the electronic transformationof the image.In
the on-goingdiscourseon painting, drawing,sculptureand_architecture since
In a telephone conversationwitl-rBurgin on 4 Attgust,
of digitized images
rgg5he referredto hrs n-rodification Heinrich WoURi", the "palnterly'ti, ,.grrded as the formal complementof the
ancisaid that I'rewanted tl'rerllto be "ntore abstract",so "linear".t
asto "look more painterly".Tire term ttsedby Br-rrgin,
For Roland Barthes,the mechanicallycreated"chiaroscuroof the photographi
) in "Pl-rotograph
" ch ierroscttro" (also"l igl-rt-dark" ic
Pr:rcticeand Art Tl-reory'"(Studio Intemationai, July- image" gaverise to a theory of the photographas a "messagewithout codes".
Arrgtrstryj j, p.45) is one whicl'rhas strongassociations B.,rgin contradictedthis theory in ry75in "PhotographicPracticeandArt
of graphic art and painting' Black-ancl-
rvith the l-ristory ThÄry", "... lU-berto] Eco remindsus that there can be no uncodedvisual
u,hite photographyproved itself to be oper-rto artistic
message,asthe act of perceivingis a decodingoperation."FollowingEco,
rnanipuiationto the extentthat it sl'roweditselfcapabie
and modification, thtts giving rise to
of differentiatior-r Burgii regardsvisual perceptionas only possibleby meansof binarycoding.
inclividualstylestl-rroughthe choice of frarr-re,of aper- An artist',s.h.-e for th. pioduction of a picture with analogueand digital
ture, of lighting and processingproducing different means containscodeswhich posit differences'
tones.Thus photographybecarnea competitor of real-
both becauseof its "painterly" possibili-
According to Eco, through transformationsinto artisticpictorial mediasuchas
isticpaintir-rg
tiesand becauseof tl're"chiaroscllro". painting Jr drawing,visual perceptionresultsin "weak ... iconic codes",given

r44
that the signsin the "iconic continuum .. . (have)no significancein them- Angelus Novus
selves".Allernationsbetween"selectedfeatures"and "pertinent properties"form (StreetPhotography)
a "whole sequenceof idiolects".The pictorial signsassume"contextualsigni- 1995,tni ptych
"a 3 di gi talpri nts, 213.4x 91.5cm each,
ficance"becauseunlike "linguistic phenomena" they do not constitute system
213.4x 274 . 5cm
totaf di mensi on:-
of fixed differences".In Angelus Novus Burgin reworksphotographic raw
materialwith the aid of a computer in the senseof "painterly" "idiolects".He is
concernedneither with an uncoded mechanical pictorial medium) nor with a
digitizedpictorial medium with "fixed differences"like language.What he
is concernedwith is the recoveryof artistic"idiolects" by meansof digital trans-
C ourtesyof t he ar t ist
formation.He constructsa realism which is both digitized and painterly.

r45
 Telefilm-without-End
For Burgin the computer is an instrument for reworkingbasicpl-rotographic
and typographicelements(Burgin 4 August,rgg5:"The computer is a tool").
He looks upon it as one apparatusamong the many which make the everyday
interchangeof imagesbetweendifferentmedia (photography,film TV, video,
CD-ROM, printing) possible,the so-called"telefilm-without-end"(Burgin r99r).
In ry75 already,Burgin made a referenceto this pictorial exchange:"Eco
refers... to the systemsfor storing,transmittingand displayingpictureswith the
aid of computers,in which the apparently analogicalhas been interpreted
in digital terms. He also points out that modern reproductiveprocesses, from
half-tone blocks to TV images,presentus with discontinuoussystems."
Through the interchangeabilityof imagesbetween the different media facili-
tated by digitization,specificpictorial features,whose differentiationis closely
relatedto the historyof individual media, alsobecome transferableat will.
If computer art in the r96oswas still a linear and abstractart, in the rg8osit be-
came an art which simr-rlatedrealistic imagesthanks to differentiated digitiza-
tion. Burgin turns his back on an art which merely demonstratesthe simulation
potential of computer-assisted image processingby referenceto itself.He works
with computer-assisted image processingand digitized photographsin such a
way as to almostexpound the problemswhich arisefrom inter-mediaexchange.
Computer euphoria is relativisedby referencesto specificfeaturesof the pic-
torial media of painting and photography.

ization
D e- andRe-Territorial
PeterWeibel describedthe historyof the pictorial media - from paintingsexe-
cr-rtedby handicraft,via mechanical reproduction in photographyand film
(asmoving photomontage)to computer-assisted image processing- as an accel-
eration of image sequencesin the dimension of time. Burgin demonstrateshis
reservationsabout this kind of future-orientated'techno-discours' by recollrseto
Benjamin's "New Angel". As Benjamin outlines in his Über den Begriffder
D.l I. I
DlDrlograPny: Geschichte,the wings of this angel are inflated by a "storm from paradise",as a
Barthes,"RhetorikdesBildes"(r964),in
Rolarrcl
result of which the angel is swept"into the future", "on which he turns his
Theorieder Fotografie,Vol. III,
WolfgangKer.r-rp,
M uni c h r983. back, while the heap of rubble in front of him mounts up into the sky".The
Walter Benj:rrnin,CesammelteSchriften, Frankfurt am "New Angel" turns awayfrom the techno-discourse and - as an "Angel of
Mai n , 1974,V ol. I . 2 . ,p . 6 6 o , p p . 6 9 1 ;Vo l. I.3 . History" - devoteshimself to the questionof "where the idea of traditionand
On Victor Burgin'stextsand works,cf. Bibliography,
historycomesfrom" (Burgin 4 August, rgg5):"The historian is a backward-
additionaltelephoneconversatioirfron-r4 August,r995
UrrrbertoF.co,F,infühnmgin die Semiotik,Municlr looking prophet." (Benjamin) In the courseof the searchfor answerswhat
r972. need to be consideredare the contradictionsbetweenterritoriallyand eth-
JrrliaKristeva, Le r*,olution du langagepoötique,Paris nically orientated "identity politics" (Burgin r99r, r99j) and de-territorialized
r974.
multi-media systems,wherebythe latteralsomake other individualizations
Niklas Ltrhrlann, Dla Ausdifferenzierungdes
Wabern-Berne1994.
Kunsfsslsienzs, possible;such as that of the "international community of adolescence"(Burgin
(lershomScl-rolem,
"Walter Beniamln ulrd sein
4 Ar-rgust,rggjon Rap etc.).The interplaybetweende- and re-territonaliza-
E ngel" ,in Siegf r i e dU n s e l d( e d . ) , Z u rAktu a litö t tion both restrictsand opensup possibilitiesfor future constructionsof social
\\'alter Benjatnins,Frankfi-rrtan'rMain t972.
codes.
der Bilder in der
PeterWeibel, Die Beschleunigung
Berne 1987.
Chronokrotie,
The planes of referencebetween de- and re-territoriahzationare also implicit
"Walter Beniamin, Par,rlKlee
Otto K. Werckmeister, in the title which Burgin consideredas an alternativeto AngelusNorus, namely
(1976),in
trnclcler'Engelder Gescl-richte"' 'street Photography'.This is the term which Br-rrginusesto describethe photo-
über PatLlK/ee,Frankfurtant
Werckrneister,Versuche
graphsof Henri Cartier-Bressonand Lee Friedlander,as well as the portrait in
N4 ai nr98r.
H ei rrr i ch Wö Iffl i n, Ku nstgeschi chtl i che Cr un dbegriffe the middle panel of his own work (Burgin 4 August, L9g). He explainsthat "the
(r9r5),Basle/ Stuttgart1976. genre of 'streetphotography'requiresthat nothing be staged"(Burgin 1986).

146
 to the streetphotographs
However,in the caseof AngelusNovus - as oPposed
in his photo-text-serieslqo" of rg8o - in the close-upof the face of the
of the
"you',i girl in the street';(Burgin 4 August,1995)nothing is-tobe seen
In AngelusNovus
,urroääings: the streetphotographhas become a portrait'
on the streetand
Burgin,uri, himself ofir"o p.rtp"ctives - the front view
betweende- and re-
from the air - in order to draw atiention to the fault-lines
bird's eye viewpoint -
territorialization.only from the distance- from the
it disintegratesinto
doesthe streetitself become a pictorial motif. up close,
and distant views has
isolatedobjects.Concentration on particular c_lose-ups
(Weibel's "Der
been part of the history both of the medium of photography
medium of film (close-up).
orbitale Blick: De, A.,fstiegdesAuges")and of the

De-Syn-Thesizing
wings of an "Angel"
The ph'otographson thZ side panels can be read as the
behind the observer'
whoseface on the middl. prn.l gazesoutthrough and
This readingof the side pÄ.1, as"angel's wings is facilitatedby the contour of a
of the inner out-
shorelinein the upper prrt, of the photographs,reminiscent
line which the ,rir.d'rtitg-rr-s'for- with the head in Klee'sAngelusNovus
drawing.The representations on the sidewings of Burgin'striptych can be reld
of the combination of
asangel'swings .rrrying bombs.Alongsidethis reading
(for example,the Archangel
photographsasa ,.f.r.nce to imaginaiive-concepts
interpretationis alsocon-
Michael in the Fall of the Damn.d to Hell), another
in the photographs
ceivablewhich would place the internal cameraposition
triptych'
in relation to the location of the observer in front of the
and the gaze of th-e
The observer'sgaze at the side wings of the triptych,
the observer'form two
femaleface onihe middle panel rt *hrt is lying behind
the middle panel
inter-penetratingtriangles.Wftit. the obsewer gazespast
woman in the middle
at the two sidesirtr.r. ttre bomb is being dropped, the
unknown behind
panel 'looks' pastthe observeron both tid.t at something
him.
in the side panels-isthat
In Burgin'striptych the angle of vision of the camera
heap of rubble in front
of Angelu,Nourr, the birdis eye view, gazing"at the
that of the bomber pilot'
of him,,. But at the same time, unfortÄately, it is also
with the face in
The observerin front of the triptych seeshimself confronted
can locate himself either
the middle panel and, with ,espectto the side wings, C esammelteSchriften,Vol' r'z''
Cf. Walter B eni ar-r'rin,
Do the tensions
in the position of the fighter plane or of Angelusl\ovus: Frankfurta.M. ry74, p' 66o: "The courseof historyas
resolvethemselves cannot n-rakeany
evokedin the observeriy thlse three possiblelocations
implied in the tern-rcatastropl're,
,,kaleidoscopically" shifting picture nore demandson a thinking Personthan a kaleido-
in the "continuum of ... constantly
scope in the l-randsof a child, in wl'ricl'rat each nerv
patterns,,in"'r-,''eiiaticimagespace"? or do the tensionsimplicit in a relatively turn all that was once ordered is thrown ir-rtoa new
oppositionto the
restrictednumber of possiülelocationsput up sufficient order .. . The conceptsof tl'roseir-rpower I'ravealwavs
"tele-
inteiminable rotation äf the.pictorialsequencesin the
,,kaleidoscopic", been the mirrors by means of which the ir-r-rage of

an 'orcler'came into being. The kaleidoscope must be

(Burgin Iggr,1995)
film-without-end"- as if turned by an invisible hand? sl'rattered."
to the closedsymbolic
Burgin's suggestionis to create counter-movements of the
the fr'rr-rction
I h'r tl-reprocessof de-syn-thesizir-rg,
media, or by trans-
*orld, by intloducing "idiolects" into the public image synbolic is rnaintainedbut with a negativesign'De-
"shattering"'the "mediatic the semioticis "cot-nt-neun retottt
forming strong.od., i.to weak ones,but without
syn-thesizing
dansle svnbo-
'second'de la fonctionalit6pr-rlsionelle
i*rg.r!r..".f, it still possibleto "desynthesize"3 the symbolic in "mediatic "Transgression"
and
lique, comtue satransgressiott"
i-r[.rprce" by of the semiotic,or is the world of the pictorial media sign function coulcl
not clestructionof the referer-rtial
-."n, "idiolects"?
,tr.äai too heimetically sealedto allow accessto be the motto of painterly
Br-rrgin's realism(Kristeva;
cf. Victor Br-rrgin,The End of ArtTheory, Han-rpshire

Translation: Pauline Cumbers 1986,p. zz and 84).

r47