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Terra Incognita
Diashow
  
Wolfgang Zurborn: Terra Incognita
by Peter V. Brinkemper
In his exhibition "Terra Incognita" Wolfgang Zurborn
tracks down the staging of public places which are the setting
of the “Stadttheater”, Bielefeld’s municipal
theatre and opera house. He deliberately does not make a distinction
between historic sites and places of cultural interest, like
the Old Town, on the one hand, and the bareness of a multi-storey
car park on the university grounds on the other hand.
Zurborn‘s compositions of harsh and sometimes glowing
colours make us see everyday life with different eyes. Details
photographed from obliques angles and paradoxical reflections
of interiors and exteriors highlight the platforms of public
life. The curtain is up and we are guided onto the stage and
behind the backdrop, where the stage machinery of the city
is only partially hidden from view.
Zurborn has been working as a professional photographer for
the Bielefeld City Theatre since many years. He is a constant
companion to their rehearsals and performances, casting an
expert eye over the interplay between light and shadow, facial
expression and make-up, all so vital to capture our imagination
and create illusion. With Zurborn‘s guidance, we may
literally explore Bielefeld as unknown territory. How is that
achieved? The visual artist and photographer Wolfgang Zurborn
puts a surprisingly ambivalent perspective on what we thought
we knew already, thus uncovering, exaggerating and disintegrating
the stereotypes in everyday life – the trifles which
make the sum of life. Zurborn speaks of the “Dressur
Real” of the ordinary things. He is a master of productive
alienation (cf. Brecht’s Galilei) and experimental viewing
– stylistic devices which, in many respects, resemble
the dramatic tricks in a stunning production of a play.
The picture itself works as an interface for the active viewer,
who must make up their mind how to react to the photographer’s
choice of perspective and subject. The photograph puts the
viewer (and the world) to the test: the drama of everyday
life is condensed into a concrete and changeable picture,
in which the stage directions, however, remain to be decoded.
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