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23.06.2020

Gasteig Sendling – Photo Art in Episodes (4)

Gasteig Sendling – Photo Art in Episodes (4) Helmut Wegmeth looks behind the doors of Gasteig Sendling

They arrived even before the first excavator: several amateur photographers who have been documenting the Sendling site ever since construction work began there. They are participants in a long-term photographic project of the Münchner Volkshochschule community college. In a public exhibition consisting of several episodes, we will present a selection of their photographs to date.

Like a magnet, the Gasteig’s central location and architecture exert a special attraction on Helmut Wegmeth. Which is why the 54-year-old amateur photographer has been a regular visitor to the Munich arts centre for many years. The upcoming Gasteig renovation and the resulting changes prompted Helmut Wegmeth to capture the development of the interim quarter in Sendling with his camera.

»What lies hidden behind this door?
What will I find when I set foot in these unknown rooms?
On the one side, the one-dimensional flatness of the doors,
on the other the depth and diversity of the spaces:
opposites that nevertheless attract.«

Wegmeths photographs are aimed at captivating the viewer and prompting further questions. For more than ten years, the aspiring educator has been a dedicated photographer, ever in search of unusual perspectives and the stories behind his subjects. While initial conceptual photographs emphasized contrasts, his later work shows the diversity and different perspectives at a glance. Helmut Wegmeth thus provides varied insights into the Gasteig Sendling interim quarter: spacious, detailed, reduced or abstract.

Folge 4 Fotokunst Gasteig Sendling Folge 4 Fotokunst Gasteig Sendling Folge 4 Fotokunst Gasteig Sendling Folge 4 Fotokunst Gasteig Sendling Folge 4 Fotokunst Gasteig Sendling Folge 4 Fotokunst Gasteig Sendling Folge 4 Fotokunst Gasteig Sendling

Background
The project »Interim – der Gasteig kommt nach Sendling« is a special cooperation between the Münchner Volkshochschule and Gasteig München GmbH on the occasion of the relocation of the Gasteig to Sendling in 2021. The »Photography & Video/Film« faculty of the Münchner Volkshochschule has developed this course in close cooperation with the photographer and lecturer Gérard Pleynet. »I have a very close affinity to the Gasteig. For me, it is a place of art and intellectual life, and I also work here. That’s why I am interested in documenting changes in time and space throughout its relocation and the renovation work,« emphasizes Pleynet, who supervises the interim project with unparalleled dedication and but aims to create a photographic record of the Gasteig’s renovation.

Under his supervision, several photographers have been documenting the changes in the Gasteig’s interim quarters from as early as March 2019 – always with an artist’s eye on the construction work. Like Helmut Wegmeth, all course participants have developed their own concepts, perspectives and artistic ideas.


Episode 1 – Jacqueline Tebcharani
Episode 2 – Andreas Weimann
Episode 3 – Kathrin Bild
Episode 5 – Maximilian Allwein

Text: Maria Zimmerer
Photos: Helmut Wegmeth (picture gallery), Gérard Pleynet (portrait/title motif)

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