Hyper-Realities

Photographies by Daniel & Geo Fuchs​​

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Hyper-reality, as a concept, refers to a state of confusion between signs and symbols invented to stand in for reality and our perceptions of this reality. What is generally regarded as real and as fiction is seamlessly mixed in a visual and mental experience leaving no clear distinction between both. Apparent reality is being viewed as a fragmented, complementary and polysemic system whose components are fueled by our social and cultural activities. So-called consensus reality is constantly produced and reproduced by the media, leading to the creation of hyper-reality.

This ambivalence is one of the main characteristics of the work by German artists Daniel & Geo Fuchs. Their photos oscillate between what cannot exist in reality and what does exist, even under different conditions. Walking on a thin line, every series combines death and aesthetics, destruction and beauty, decay and perfectionism. The artists have developed a strong affinity for revealing what is hidden or secret, often in the fascinating world of collections and archives. Their photos first suggest the certainty of having grasped the motif at one glance. However, they demand a more intense examination, combined with the inevitable question of what was or wasn’t there when the photo was made. Whether they were shot in nature, an archive or a studio, we soon notice that reality and fiction must have been mixed.

TOYGIANTS: Pop, colourful, wild – these are our first impressions conveyed by these works. But there is much more behind the facade. The iconic figures of pop culture are staged in monumental portraits, individually or in surprising groupings giving rise to new, ambiguous narratives. What appears playful at first glance reveals deeper levels that could not be more topical. Power, ideology, childhood, consumption and memory, hopes and fears intertwine in the rigid faces of the plastic avatars. The series started in 2004, when Daniel & Geo discovered two Japanese robot figures in a shop window in Berlin. Shortly afterwards, they met the collector Selim Varol, who has assembled one of the largest collections of its kind in the world, and they began taking artistic photographs of his collection.

NATURE & DESTRUCTION: In this series, Daniel & Geo deal with the opposing poles of aesthetics and destruction in nature. In today’s world, where resources are becoming increasingly scarce and the world is inexorably affected by climate change, they deal with the fragility of nature. For the artists, nature is the supposedly perfect reproduction of what we interpret into it and hope for
- beauty, resources and force. However, we are also confronted with its destruction through human intervention. These images were created with a camera robot developed by Nasa and Google for the Mars mission, in which hundreds of images are stitched together into one. This results in an incredible richness of detail that challenges our gaze and mind.

STASI - SECRET ROOMS: Fifteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the artists travelled through East Germany to trace down the visual remains of the Stasi. They discovered former rooms of the Ministry for State Security – places still intact, preserved as memorials of injustice, some appearing as time stood still. The photos show interrogation rooms and floors with a Kafkaesque atmosphere, the cold design of terror, with flowered wallpaper and upholstered doors, having an almost unwelcome esthetic appeal.

DANIEL & GEO FUCHS, both born in the 1960s, have been working together for over 20 years on conceptual photography, videos and installations. Having gained international renown, their works can be found in significant private and public collections, e.g. Sir Elton John Collection, Montblanc Collection, SAP Art Collection, Galila’s POC, Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach. On the occasion of 10th Photo Brussels, we are very glad to be able to present a curated selection of their works, in kind collaboration with nüüd.berlin gallery.

Text: Robert Klotz