Wolfgang Spahn

Generative Installation, IWALEWAHAUS, Bayreuth 2015

The Installation „Southern Cross, remediated“ generates images of both the Southern Cross and our Galaxy as seen in the Southern hemisphere. The images are based on material taken from the Internet. In a process of interference and collage they provide the source from which chromaticity is generated. This technique allows to create and re-create altering images, and in doing so it simulates the movement of the stars.

The artwork has been developed particularly for the Iwalewa-Haus. For that matter the building was reduced to its facade behind which the infinite space becomes visible. This loss of materiality allows to question the idea of what can be seen as the interior and the exterior of the building. The museum therefore functions as a window to the universe that encourages to risk different perspectives.

By using sources found on the Internet the installation is meant to consciously reflect on the fantasies about the southern sky as provided by the media rather than create its own representation of the galaxy.