Transversum
Installation. Bonn. 2005
Installation. Bonn. 2005
Anton Markus Pasing works in the inter-mediate area between architecture and the fine arts. His field of action and experimentation consists of utopiandesigns of the 21st century which he trans-fers into model situations, concentratesinto extended visions and scrutinises in experimental arrangements for their possible social, political and ethical im-plications. Anton Markus Pasing’s artisticwork can be seen in a broader sense as a hypothetical feasibility study of thedimensions of architecture, urban devel-opment and art in the public sphere. In his reflections on the current debates surrounding “architecture and society”, theartist develops a theory of “experimentalarchitecture” which he himself attempts toconceptualise as “remote-controlled architecture”.
It is a matter of accessing reality by meansof “telescoping”– through a distancing tool which allows the boundaries of fictionand reality, of virtual and real worlds toblur in our perception and thus also in ourconsciousness. Via remote control, every-one – at least in his own imagination – israised to the level of an “omnipotentor” who can control and change his environ-mentat the press of a button. On the otherhand, the media consumer becomes the passive object of a rationally thoughinscrutably operating system which candeliberately generate and manipulate constructs of consciousness and reality inthe mind.
It is a matter of accessing reality by meansof “telescoping”– through a distancing tool which allows the boundaries of fictionand reality, of virtual and real worlds toblur in our perception and thus also in ourconsciousness. Via remote control, every-one – at least in his own imagination – israised to the level of an “omnipotentor” who can control and change his environ-mentat the press of a button. On the otherhand, the media consumer becomes the passive object of a rationally thoughinscrutably operating system which candeliberately generate and manipulate constructs of consciousness and reality inthe mind.
In order to play a part in this ambivalentsituation, Pasing adopts mechanisms andattributes from the information age. In hismulti-layered collage technique, he sets upa game of double meanings which reveal,through a variety of media, both the creativeand destructive potential of images of thefuture from the fields of culture, scienceand technology.In his project “TRANSVERSUM”, AntonMarkus Pasing takes as his starting point asystematic investigation of the remainingstructures of the municipal plant nursery.The impression of desertion and neglect ischaracterised by dead plant remains,defunct equipment and the structuralremains of the former greenhouses. Theartist sets visionary designs against theexisting situation which can then be ob-served through a mini-TV.
By inserting acoin into an ordinary vending machine,visitors get a Plastiscop Viewmasterthrough which they are presented with aspectrum of potential changes which canbe viewed from an observation point oftheir choice. The projection is superim-posed onto the image of the derelict sitewhich can consequently be viewed by ashift in consciousness in a new way accor-ding to the suggested transformation. The possible image of the future provides a stimulus for the observer to decide forhimself from the design options put for-ward and to pursue or reject the concepts.In this way, the appropriation of the tem-porarily unused site becomes an open, discursive process which intrinsically con-tains various different intentions anddemands a continual shift of perspectivefrom the observer.
By inserting acoin into an ordinary vending machine,visitors get a Plastiscop Viewmasterthrough which they are presented with aspectrum of potential changes which canbe viewed from an observation point oftheir choice. The projection is superim-posed onto the image of the derelict sitewhich can consequently be viewed by ashift in consciousness in a new way accor-ding to the suggested transformation. The possible image of the future provides a stimulus for the observer to decide forhimself from the design options put for-ward and to pursue or reject the concepts.In this way, the appropriation of the tem-porarily unused site becomes an open, discursive process which intrinsically con-tains various different intentions anddemands a continual shift of perspectivefrom the observer.
Anton Markus Pasing latches on to theremains of the former municipal plantnursery in each of his designs. Electricityand water supply equipment recall the original grid structure of the site, but with-out being able to carry out the functionsconnected with them anymore. The frame-work constructions of the greenhousesappear as lines which form the outline of an architectonic body, yet withoutdemarcating the now open structure asvolumes of external space. The artist seesthese contours as transverses which intersect a geometrical shape. As they canbe extended arbitrarily, they connect thegiven volume potentially with an infinitevariety of other spaces and thus create anenergetic system. The images which appear on the mini-TV correspondinglyextend the technical remains – the conduits,cables and wires – into visionary struc-tures which overgrow the site in a fine network.
This meshwork is condensed intoa complex structure which, though it suggests a possible functionality, does not,however, reveal its actual designation. The observer gets lost in tunnel-like, laby-rinthine spaces which seem in part tobecome disconnected from the forces ofgravity and advance energetically in alldirections. The superimpositions transformthe existing transitional situation into adynamic entity which can be associated inits vast dimensions with the hard disk of acomputer or utopian spaces from computergames.In this way, various different levels of perception intersect each other in theTRANSVERSUM project. It is a matter ofintervening experimentally in the rena-turation process of a landscape space andof orienting this space towards possible future designs by taking into account emotional and intuitive perceptions. Thetopography acquires a temporal dimensionthrough the connection with images ofretrospection and anticipation.
Ch. Kivelitz
This meshwork is condensed intoa complex structure which, though it suggests a possible functionality, does not,however, reveal its actual designation. The observer gets lost in tunnel-like, laby-rinthine spaces which seem in part tobecome disconnected from the forces ofgravity and advance energetically in alldirections. The superimpositions transformthe existing transitional situation into adynamic entity which can be associated inits vast dimensions with the hard disk of acomputer or utopian spaces from computergames.In this way, various different levels of perception intersect each other in theTRANSVERSUM project. It is a matter ofintervening experimentally in the rena-turation process of a landscape space andof orienting this space towards possible future designs by taking into account emotional and intuitive perceptions. Thetopography acquires a temporal dimensionthrough the connection with images ofretrospection and anticipation.
Ch. Kivelitz
Exhibition “ Lasst uns 3 Hütten bauen“. Elisabeth-Montag Stiftung. Bonn. 2005
Download the catalogue:
http://www.montag-stiftungen.com/3huetten-katalog0/
Download the catalogue:
http://www.montag-stiftungen.com/3huetten-katalog0/
