Markus Krottendorfer is interested in the fragile foundations of our present, in misconceptions and failed ideas which still managed to give rise to the conquest of the world and which were with us for a while. With his special photographic method, he intervenes in places that still show traces of these often-odd ideas, places that beg questions regarding their (former) utopian potential and the way they resonate with the present.

In the “Photopsia” exhibition—a term that describes a visual disturbance manifesting in the form of hallucinatory perceptions—, Krottendorfer ties together three different projects about fictions from the early modern age.

“Mountains of Kong”—a mountain range in Africa which was included in maps of the world until the early 20th century despite the fact that it never existed, showcasing a colonial-era production of fictitious knowledge about Africa.
“Point of View”—the Chinese cabinets of the Hofburg in Brixen/Bressanone and Neustift Abbey, bearing witness to a romanticized view of an imaginary “Orient” but also to the power coming from the depiction of the world.
“Phantom of the Poles”—In 1906, William Reed published a book of the same name in which he postulates that there is another world located inside the Earth, perhaps even unknown civilizations—an early form of “alternative facts”?

All three projects allow us to reflect on the role of photography in the space between reality and fiction, truth and fallacy in our very own present.

Opening of the temporary exhibition: 15.06.2023

photos: Markus Krottendorfer, from the series Mountains of Kong, 2016

analog C-print, 100x80 cm