The two Spanish artists Carlos Spottorno and Guillermo Abril have found an original format for their work. They explore the interface between journalism, literature and photographic art. Among others, they publish their work in the Spanish magazine El País Semanal, in the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung and in belletristic publications throughout Europe. Furthermore, they exhibit in relevant institutions for creative photography.

In 2016, they published a remarkable report on Europe’s external borders as a graphic novel. This picture story combines subjective eye-witness accounts with facts derived from research and an unusual form of illustrative photography, which has made them internationally famous. The book has already been translated into five languages and appeared in German under the title Der Riss (The Crack) .

For INN SITU, the two artists created a report in words and pictures on the border between Austria and Italy, that is, North and South Tyrol – a border which, in the view of these two southern Europeans, is today an example of successful coexistence at the centre of the European Union, even though it originally resulted from the First World War and the region’s conflict-ridden history.

One of the goals of the series at BTV Stadtforum is to invite outside perspectives on the region and, as a result of this “outside” view, to become freshly aware of what has supposedly been seen, judged and internalised a thousand times. It is an offer to hold these subjective observations as a lens over one’s own opinions on the subject, and to make use of possible divergencies as a stimulus for discourse and reflection.

© Carlos Spottorno

The journey

Carlos Spottorno and Guillermo Abril were scarcely familiar with the region prior to being invited to this project. They researched the geographical, historical and political facts in a classic professional journalistic manner. They selected interviewees and sites, visited some of these on several occasions in the course of the last year, and followed not only their meticulous preparation but also their chance encounters in situ. Extensively informed of the facts, they were open to surprises, alternative points of view and moments of insight in their encounters.

It is an inquisitive, personal, informal and unprejudiced approach to the everyday reality of a region by two European citizens from another country. What is exceptional is the variety of their observations through time and place: from the alpine transition between two climate zones at the time of Ötzi, the Tyrloean Iceman, via the Chinese tourist looking at the Dolomites by means of her Instagram account, to the telltale depths of the geological layers that the Brenner Base Tunnel will plough through. This is how they hit on the fault line, which gives the exposition its title and is the geological term for the collision of rock strata which are, in point of fact, directly beneath the border.

SPOTTORNO

Beyond the here and now

INN SITU – Music and Photography in Dialogue

For the INN SITU series, twice a year we invite well-known international photographers to the region to develop a new exhibition that reflects their encounters with Tyrol and Vorarlberg. At the same time, for each exhibition we invite selected musicians and composers from Tyrol or Vorarlberg to stage a new concert to accompany and complement the artists’ exhibition.

Christof Dienz – Mountainworks. Das Konzert. Redaktion, Kamera, Schnitt: Thomas Osl, STUMMLAUT Tonstudio.

For the current exhibition, a concert format which resonates with Melanie Manchot’s work was created by one of the region’s best-known international musicians, Tyrolean composer Christof Dienz. Dienz’s compositions occupy terrain on the boundaries between classical and contemporary music and also incorporate improvisation and elements of traditional alpine music. For INN SITU he has assembled an outstanding ensemble.

Christof Dienz on his work for INN SITU:

“The starting point for this concert installation is the work which people do in the mountains, and the resulting interplay between nature and technology, captured in short videos and video loops by photographer Melanie Manchot. I have attempted to musically interweave naturally played acoustic instruments with electronic music, which manipulates the analogue sounds and carries them forwards into the digital realm. The music responds to the projections and light plays an important role. In the same way that in the mountains ski areas influence nature and the landscape, the interaction between the musicians and the technology is perceptible in the music.”

Christof Dienz – Composition, Bassoon, Zither

© Lukas Beck

Ivana Pristasova, Violin

_C_MarkusBruckner

Walter Seebacher, Clarinets

Alexandra Dienz, Double Bass

Florian Bogner, Sound Design

© Markus Bruckner

Mathilde Hoursiangou, Piano

© Markus Brucker