Axel Braun
Records of Loss
Axel Braun has dedicated his latest project, Records of Loss (2019–2020), to Austria’s largest glacier, the Pasterze, at the foot of the Grossglockner [Austria’s highest mountain]. From his extensive research the artist has retraced the history of illustrations of this valley glacier. While pictorial representations of the Grossglockner and the Pasterze served initially as an aid to the exploration of this particular habitat, over the centuries that followed, they attested gradually to the appropriation of nature; today they are evidence of the inexorable disappearance of the glaciers brought on by man-made global warming. In his mixed media installation created especially for the exhibition, Axel Braun combines historical depictions of the glacier with visual renderings of current glacier surveys. They are complemented with his own photographic documentary and film footage, for which he accompanied geologists during their fieldwork. By superimposing different images and juxtaposing historical and contemporary content, Axel Braun reveals the fatal impact of human activity and, by association, allows us to grasp the cultural history of the Pasterze.
Axel Braun, born 1983, lives in Essen, Germany.
Artist Portrait
„Doch angesichts der aktuellen Klimakrise sollten wir erkennen, dass die kurzfristigen Lösungen der Vergangenheit keine Lösungen für die Zukunft sein können.“
Axel Braun, Artist