Whenever photography is forced to reinvent itself, it often harks back to the photogram. This happened in the twenties of the previous century when photography became a true mass-medium and it is happening again right now when the digital revolution is radically reshaping the production, dissemination and reception of photographic images. So, where does this allure of the photogram come from? One simple answer would be to point out that the photogram is the closest we could get to the core of the photographic system. In the photogram light is simultaneously theme and medium, form and content: it is photography reduced to its bare essence as ‘writing (playfully) with light’. However, this ‘retour aux sources’ should by no means be understood as a reactionary or nostalgic throwback. As it did in the past, the current photogram functions as a playground to critically engage with (or against) the transformations that define our current cultural and visual environment. Defined by the ever-increasing ease and autonomy by which self-sufficient operating systems create images, the nine artists presented in this exhibition are eagerly looking for some kind of (material) resistance, a way of being challenged by a hands-on procedure that leaves room for the disruptive intervention of forces outside of their control. In each instance, a kind of movement is involved in the creation of their works. It can be caused by placing an unstable object on the light sensitive paper, or by either blindly or very deliberately shuffling objects around, it can involve initiating a chemical reaction between the chemical layer and liquids or contaminated soil, etc. In all these experiments, the artists trigger the unruly automatism of the analog photogram to create an unstable environment where anything and everything can happen.

With works by Francesco Del Conte (IT), Marta Djourina (DE), Sascha Herrmann (DE), Berit Schneidereit (DE), Dries Segers (BE), Sophie Thun (AT), Sine Van Menxel (BE), Marianne Vierø (DK) and Jeff Weber (USA).