Schirn Kunsthalle

PHILIPP FÜRHOFER
[Dis]connect
9 November 2017 - 25 February 2018

Within the scope of the exhi­bi­tion “Diorama. Inventing Illu­sion,” from November 9, 2017, to January 21, 2018, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frank­furt is presenting a large-scale instal­la­tion by Philipp Fürhofer. With his work [dis]connect, created espe­cially for the Schirn Rotunda, he trans­forms the circular building into an illu­sionary space, and in doing so cites the optical mechan­ical play­house that Louis Daguerre opened in Paris in 1822. In this walk-through theater, stories painted on large, semi­trans­parent canvases were set in motion using lighting and stage equip­ment. Fürhofer’s instal­la­tion [dis]connect amounts to an acces­sible, three-dimen­sional illu­sionary space.

It consists of two mirror ceil­ings posi­tioned one above the other in line with the height of the Rotunda’s two upper stories. In addi­tion, a forest motif based on land­scape dioramas emerges from the ground-floor pillars and extends upwards along the glass front of the Rotunda. The artist uses light to create two different spatial situ­a­tions. When the floor of the Rotunda is illu­mi­nated, the lower, semi­trans­parent mirror looks like a false ceiling installed above the heads of the visi­tors and serves to visu­ally reduce the space.

When the light is switched to the upper area of the Rotunda, the lower mirror becomes trans­parent and affords a view of the entire circular struc­ture. The reci­p­rocal action of the two mirrors results in a visu­ally endless repro­duc­tion of the archi­tec­ture. The two spatial situ­a­tions alter­nate in a regular, pulse-like rhythm, reflecting Fürhofer’s play with the viewers’ percep­tion and their notion of reality.

Changing spatial situ­a­tions with the aid of light effects that give rise to unusual visual expe­ri­ences is a recur­rent element in Fürhofer’s works. In his monu­mental, painted light boxes, he uses light fade-ins or fade-outs to change not only the external appear­ance of the sets, but also their overall spatial impres­sion. In these objects, Fürhofer like­wise gener­ally employs semi­trans­parent reflec­tive film, which becomes part of the work when simi­larly illu­mi­nated.

Whereas the instal­la­tion [dis]connect incor­po­rates actual archi­tec­tural elements of the Rotunda, such as the pillars on the ground floor, the mirrors in both light situ­a­tions create a space of illu­sion that seems to dissolve into abstrac­tion. Yet the construc­tion of this illu­sion always remains visible and trans­parent as an inter­ven­tion. Visi­tors can decide the extent to which they wish to abandon them­selves to the illu­sion. Fürhofer breaks with the diorama as a real­istic depic­tion of the world and points to the futility of efforts to grasp reality.

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Schirn Kunsthalle Frank­furt, says of the instal­la­tion: “With [dis]connect, Philipp Fürhofer extends the exhi­bi­tion ‘Diorama. Inventing Illu­sion’ by an illu­sion­istic space that is freely acces­sible in the Schirn’s exte­rior area. Using light and mirror effects, the artist utilizes the archi­tec­ture of the Rotunda for the purpose of showing us how we can be deceived: He lays bare the illu­sion and demon­strates what it means to want to grasp reality.”

“Whereas in his dioramas Louis Daguerre made every effort to create a repro­duc­tion of reality that was as cred­ible as possible, Philipp Fürhofer’s piece addresses the produc­tion of reality per se. [dis]connect imparts no ‘knowl­edge’ as such, but rather a disso­lu­tion of visible coor­di­nates in space—a state that calls to mind the illu­sionary worlds and those we escape to in our virtual age,” says curator Ilka Voer­mann about the artist’s work.

Artist and set designer Philipp Fürhofer (*1982 in Augs­burg) lives and works in Berlin. He studied visual art at the Berlin Univer­sity of the Arts from 2002 until 2008. His works have been presented in numerous solo and group shows, including at the Kunstverein Augs­burg (2016), the Arsenāls–Fine Arts Museum Riga (2016), and the Bayerisches National­mu­seum in Munich (2012). Since 2008, Philipp Fürhofer has also repeat­edly worked as a set and costume designer for opera houses in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Nether­lands, and Switzer­land. The opera Les vêpres sicili­ennes by Giuseppe Verdi that was performed at London’s Royal Opera House in 2013 and for which Fürhofer created the set design received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Produc­tion in 2014.

With the exhi­bi­tion “Diorama. Inventing Illu­sion,” until January 21, 2018, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frank­furt is addressing the cultural history of vision. It focuses on the diorama, which is used to recon­struct and real­is­ti­cally stage events, stories, and living envi­ron­ments with the aid of various creative means.