CAMERA AUSTRIA 29 focusses on two exhibitions: ” The Revenge of Recollection” and “Tristes Tropiques/Taboo”. “The Revenge of Recollection” was a Forum Stadtpark contribution to the styrian autumn ’88 which, 50 years from 1938, had chosen “The Guilt and Innocence of Art” as its topic. Works by eight European and Japanese artists (Christian Boltanski, Hanna Collins, Güther Förg, Masahisa Fukase, Seiichi Furuya, Christiane Richter, Henk Tas, Manfred Willmann) were brought tighter under this title, without the artists being cast in advance in the role of moralist , chronist  or interpreter. What we felt to be more important was to allow divergences of viewpoint, to “win” recollection (re-thinking) from hermetic works that rest direct interpretation of content; to give viewers an opportunity to focus also on their own recollection and to bring their reflections on one work of art to their viewing of another – and this without providing signposts or revealing clues as to how “history” should rightly be conceived of. The works in their diversity were meant to resonate with one another. Thus , the ruins described by Hannah Collins, her reflections on the world within and the world without , the past and the present, have to be viewed differently from Günther Förg’s photographys of architectural spaces. And the space installed by Christian Boltanski exposes us to horror in a manner quite different from Seiichi Furuya’s reconstructions of a “journey” – to give only a free examples. Always, though, are we challenged to think for ourselves, intent on transcending in our consideration for the here and now and the (los?) past the clichéd ways in which we perceive reality and expect it to be reconstructed.

The second exhibition, “Tristes Tropiques/Taboo”, with a text by Paul Groot, is the product of a collaboration between Jean Baudrillard, Günther Förg, Paul Groot, Peter Klashorst and Gerald Van Der Kaap. Based on Claude Lévi-Strauss’ book, “Tristes Tropiques” (1955, and Jean Baudrillard’s “Amérique” (1986) , which links back to Lévi-Strauss, and responding to Jean Jacques Rosseau’s philosophical sketch of a life of simplicity (“Emile”, 1763) , while also recalling the innocent portrayal of man and nature in F.W.Murnau’s last film “Taub”(1931), this “last salute to dying nature” affords us an experience of “the simple pleasure of the travel essay”… the journey together though unknown territory, where the writer becomes photograph and the painter can let himself become the penpusher”. (Paul Groot)

Other major items in this issue include an interview with F.C. Grundlach- photographer, gallerist, collector -, who spoke to Thilo Koenig, exhibition and book reviews, a publisher’s portrait (Edition Patricia Schwarz, Stuttgart) , and the index for issue 22 to 28 of CAMERA AUSTRIA

We would like to thank artists, lenders and writers for their contribution to this issue of CAMERA AUSTRIA, and in particular the styrian autumn under its Director, Peter Vujica, for the financial assistance we received with our exhibition. To our readers we ext rend our thanks for their continued interest in our publication.

Manfred Willmann, Christine Frisinghelli