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FAUNA (1987) 23 July – 9 November 2014 Joan Fontcuberta: Stranger Than Fiction

FAUNA (1987) 23 July – 9 November 2014 Joan Fontcuberta: Stranger Than Fiction Joan Fontcuberta (born 1955) is an artist whose works investigate the truth and reliability of photography. Using the visual languages of journalism, advertising, museum displays and scientific journals, he fabricates documentary narratives that combine reality and fiction. Compelling and convincing, yet also subversive and deadpan, his works are an investigation into photography’s authority and our inclination to believe what we see. Fontcuberta is a master of photographing ideas. His works inflate truth to its bursting point and, by approaching his imagined subjects with sincerity and humanity, he sets up a tug-of-war between our beliefs and scepticism. Yet while his work tenaciously interrogates the power of the photograph as evidence, it also compels us to suspend our beliefs and join him on his remarkable journeys into his fictional worlds. Stranger Than Fiction presents six of Fontcuberta’s best-known works. Fauna (1987) and Herbarium (1984) are zoological and botanical studies of newly discovered species. In Orogenesis (2002) Fontcuberta creates landscapes from computer-generated data, while Constellations (1993) is an astronomical study of new star systems. Sirens (2000) is an investigation into the discovery of mermaid fossils and Karelia, Miracles & Co (2002) documents the bizarre miracles performed by a secluded monastic sect. The exhibition is curated by Greg Hobson, Curator of Photographs, National Media Museum, Bradford and Joan Fontcuberta. Joan Fontcuberta’s book The Photography of Nature. The Nature of Photography is available from the Science Museum Shop priced £45. FAUNA SHOP ENTRANCE WAY OUT HERBARIUM KARELIA, MIRACLES & CO SIRENS OROGENESIS CONSTELLATIONS FAUNA (1987) In the summer of 1980, Joan Fontcuberta and his friend Pere Formiguera were staying in a gloomy old mansion being run as a B&B at Cape Wrath, in the far north of Scotland. During an afternoon exploring the damp basement of their accommodation, they discovered the archive of the work of Professor Peter Ameisenhaufen. The archive meticulously documented zoological discoveries made by Ameisenhaufen during his expeditions to different parts of the world, in search of ‘exceptions’ to Darwin’s theory of evolution. Prior to the discovery of the archive, Ameisenhaufen’s research was completely unknown to the scientific community and the general public. Despite the completeness of Fauna as a history of Ameisenhaufen’s research, everything in it was created by Joan Fontcuberta in collaboration with the artist and writer Pere Formiguera (1952–2013). From the professor himself, to the detailed notes and taxidermy animals, the work is an artistic fabrication that questions the authority of museum display. Solenoglypha polipodida from the Fauna series by Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera, 1987. © Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera HERBARIUM (1984) In the sprit of Carl Linnaeus (1707–78), a botanist and physician considered to be the father of modern taxonomy, Fontcuberta has set out to describe and name new plant species. His exquisite photographs reference the work of Karl Blossfeldt (1865–1932), a German photographer who searched for artistic pattern and architectural structure in his own photography of plants. Fontcuberta photographed his plant discoveries against neutral backgrounds to facilitate their identification and comparison, while also drawing our attention to the conflation of nature and art. These new plants are extraordinary in the ways in which they appear to mimic both human and inanimate forms in their appearance. The elaborate and convincing plants are actually sculptural objects, created by Fontcuberta from plant matter and various man-made found materials such as electrical wires and textiles. Giliandria escoliforcia from the Herbarium series by Joan Fontcuberta, 1984. © Joan Fontcuberta OROGENESIS (2002) Mountains have mesmerised artists, who from the 1700s have used the power and drama of mountain landscapes to evoke the nature of our planet as infinite yet unalterable. As features in the landscape, mountains carry a powerful symbolic charge. They represent the imposing forces of nature; their peaks are thought to bring people closer to the heavens and looking down from mountains offers an awe-inspiring view of the vastness of the world. Fascinated by the fictional and subjective depictions of the landscape in painting and photography, Fontcuberta has used the computer language of geographers and surveyors to intervene with existing works of art to create new mountain landscape images that take us back to the emotional energy of Romantic painting. Using a topographic computer program that converts map contours into three-dimensional landscape images, Fontcuberta has scanned landscape paintings and photographs, then used the program to select an alternative viewpoint from within the digital scan to make a new work from the old. Bodyscape (Heel), 2004 from the Orogenesis series by Joan Fontcuberta. © Joan Fontcuberta CONSTELLATIONS (1993) Astronomers study the night sky in search of new planets, moons, stars and transient celestial phenomena. Astrologers regard the heavenly bodies as intimately linked to human affairs, providing a key to our happiness or misfortune. We use the stars to orientate ourselves when we are lost. The age-old sense of guidance and enlightenment provides inspiration for artists, musicians and writers. As an amateur astronomer interested in photographing constellations, Fontcuberta creates depictions of the night sky that pay tribute to the magnificence of the cosmos, while inviting reflection on our relationship with images and the things they represent. Although the photographs might be entirely persuasive depictions of constellations, they are, in fact, made by Fontcuberta placing photographic paper against the window of his car. The various asteroids, stars and moons are the traces of insects, dust and dirt that have gathered there during his journeys between Barcelona and his home in the countryside. MN 27 Vulpecula (NGC 6853), 1993 from the Constellations series by Joan Fontcuberta. © Joan Fontcuberta SIRENS (2000) In 1947 Father Jean Fontana, a priest and teacher at the Petit Séminaire in the foothills of the French Alps, discovered the fossilised remains of a previously unknown species. He named it Hydropithecus alpinus. The fossils bear an uncanny resemblance to the dugong and the now-extinct Steller’s sea cow, yet have curiously human features. They have now been authenticated by anthropo-palaeontologists and are thought to be early mer-people, forming a tangible link in the development of the human species between the sea and the land. The site of the discoveries has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the fossils are the subject of a major National Geologic magazine story and film, for which professional wildlife photographer Fontcuberta was assigned to photograph. Digne-les-Bains in the southeast of France is located in the largest geological reserve in Europe and Fontcuberta collaborated with the local Musée Gassendi to create the Sirens work. The story about the discovery of the mermaid fossil is asserted through Fontcuberta’s placing of the fossil evidence in the Provence landscape, where it can still be seen. Sirens is entirely fictional, however, including National Geologic magazine, which has never existed. Hydropithecus of Cerro de San Vicente, 2006 from the Sirens series by Joan Fontcuberta. © Joan Fontcuberta KARELIA, MIRACLES & CO (2002) Karelia is a region of northern Europe that straddles Finland and Russia. Close to the border in Finnish territory is the interdenominational Valhamönde Monastery, where monks are said to learn how to perform miracles. The complex miracles, often surreal in their realisation, appear to have no earthly value beyond their manifestation. Determined to expose the miracles as hoaxes and the monks as charlatans, Fontcuberta posed as a novice monk to gain entry to the monastery. There he documented what he considered to be a blatant case of fraud. Karelia is a relatively unknown area of Europe. It is not an established tourist destination, despite its stunning landscapes, churches and monasteries, so therefore remains something of a mystery. It is not known whether Valhamönde Monastery exists or not, or if genuine miracles are performed there. The Miracle of Dolphin-Surfing, 2002 from the Karelia, Miracles & Co series. © Joan Fontcuberta Events Joan Fontcuberta talk and in conversation with curator Greg Hobson Monday 27 October, 19.00–20.30 £5 (concessions £3) An illustrated lecture by Joan Fontcuberta, followed by the artist in conversation with Greg Hobson and an audience Q&A. The event will conclude with a book signing. Fiction and Photography Symposium In collaboration with Westminster University Saturday 8 November The Theatre, ground floor £15 (concessions £12) This all-day conference will explore the concept of fiction, from deliberate fakery and stagecraft to literary innovation. Scholars, photographers and artists will discuss and demonstrate ways in which fiction has shaped contemporary photographic work. Wednesday lunchtime tours 13.00–13.45 Free with same-day exhibition ticket, no booking required Every fortnight, beginning Wednesday 6 August, join a member of the Media Space curatorial team for an informal tour of Stranger Than Fiction. Please visit the website for more information. Joan Fontcuberta on a photo safari. © Joan Fontcuberta Al llarg de 2014, el Tricentenari commemorarà la caiguda de la ciutat de Barcelona. que va posar fi a la guerra de Successió espanyola l’11 de setembre de 1714; una data que marca un dels períodes més importants de la història de Catalunya. Al cap de 300 anys, el “cas dels catalans” torna a ser motiu de uploads/Ingenierie_Lourd/ fontcuberta-exhibition-guide.pdf