Schaufenster: ARTbrothers kraxentrouga – Südtirol ist schön

Armin Mutschlechner & Luis Seiwald
Opening: 22.02.2013, 19:00
Introduction: Hans Heiss
Exhibition: 23.02.2013 – 16.03.2013

 

The project “Südtirol ist schön” [South Tyrol is beautiful”] was begun in 2007 and is a reaction to the staged visual language of the brand South Tyrol, in which urban South Tyrol is not present, and the sun shines bright on 365 days of the year. The clichéd postcard motives suggest a superimposed naturalness that has little to do with the realities. The target groups for South Tyrol as a destination are led to believe in an image of South Tyrol that is larded with a positive emotional language that leaves aside the downsides of societal realities. It’s about selling a product, and the policy makers never posed the question whether South Tyroleans would agree with being part of this one-sided product palette. To visually illustrate this state of being extras, the mountain used in the branding was recreated in Lego bricks and used for the project “Südtirol ist schön”.

“Südtirol ist schön” [South Tyrol is beautiful] touches on a sensitive South Tyrolean nerve and unsparingly exposes how great the gap is in our country between the claim, the promotional message and the reality, and how suspect the statements that things are going so well.

Armin Mutschlechner is the creative mind behind this ARTbrothers kraxentrouga project. For “Südtirol ist schön” the priority is on capturing atmospheric pictures, not aspiring to create glossy photos. About the photographic work of Armin Mutschlechner, who has been photographing for 30 years, Heinrich Schwazer writes: “The photos always look like they were made only for that moment, and they could be deleted just as quickly as they were created. The concept of the ‘documentary’ falls short: they document only part of what the world offers; instead they construct themselves in a very subjective manner. There emerges an artist who, despite the transient gesture of his photographic style, acts much more presciently and methodically than you might suppose at first glance. Mutschlechner is not searching for anything special, and that’s why he finds the normal, the everyday, and the touching; they tell much more interesting stories than any staging.”

The project was concluded with the exhibition in the foto-forum gallery in Bolzano. The 45 photographic works can continue to be accessed online at www.suedtirol-ist-schoen.eu.