Autopoiesis
Robert Zahornicky
Series of aquagrams, Baryta prints, each 130 x 100 cm
Austria 1990
Inspired by impressions of a diver under water looking toward the sky, Robert Zahornicky tried to re-enact such a “fluid” process – from the darkness of water into light – in the darkroom with the conventional means of analog photography. However, he did not completely immerse the unexposed photo paper in the developer bath rather he guided the liquid from the edges toward the center of the paper by tilting the dish. Very low light conditions and very careful movement of the liquid resulted in overlapping forms that, on one hand, remind one of the natural play of the source of inspiration and, on the other hand, actually represent the simplest, objectless photograms. They came into being only through the interplay of light, light-sensitive paper, and developer, creating themselves – as the title suggests. (Ruth Horak)
Robert Zahornicky, born 1952, lives and works in Pressbaum, Austria.
