Photo Booth Art
When the first booths produced by the Photomaton company appeared in Paris in 1928, artists, too, were fascinated by the possibility of obtaining automated self-portraits within minutes for very little money. The Surrealists, among them André Breton, Luis Buñuel, Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí, were the first to recognise the artistic potential of photo booths. Many other artists were to follow, for example Andy Warhol, Arnulf Rainer and Cindy Sherman.
With more than 300 works by about 60 international artists, the exhibition introduces us to the world of the “aesthetics behind the curtain”, which range from the photo booth’s “original” function – producing photos for the official authentication of a person’s existence – through artistic ways of playing with identities to the telling of short stories or the creation of individual worlds.
Excerpts from films such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Amélie“ (2001), Jean-Luc Godard’s “Masculin, féminin“ (1966) and Wim Wenders’ “Alice in the Cities” (1974) highlight the importance of the photo booth in cinematic history.
Exhibition partners
The exhibition was developed by the Musée de l’Élysée Lausanne and is being shown in Europe only three times: in Lausanne, Brussels and Vienna.
Curators:
Clément Chéroux, Curator Musée national d’art moderne – Centre Pompidou
Sam Stourdzé, Director Musée de l’Élysée
Anne Lacoste, Curator Musée de l’Élysée
Andreas Hirsch, Curator KUNST HAUS WIEN
An exhibition by the Musée de l’Élysée Lausanne
in cooperation with KUNST HAUS WIEN.
Photo contest
The winners: facebook.com/kunsthauswien
The award ceremony: facebook.com/kunsthauswien
202 entries: facebook.com/kunsthauswien
KUNST HAUS WIEN was holding a contest for the creative and artistic use of the photo booth avialable in the foyer of the museum. In order to participate in the contest, candidates had to submit a strip of four photos and a completed entry form. A jury headed by Andreas H. Bitesnich has selected the ten most creative and original subjects, and during Vienna Art Week, on 21 November 2012, the winners were announced and the prizes awarded. The first three winning subjects are on display at the exhibition until 13 January 2013.
The jury
Sally Bibawy, Lomographic Society International
Andreas H. Bitesnich, Photographer – Head juror
Gerhard Hinterleitner, cyberlab.at
Andreas Hirsch, KUNST HAUS WIEN
Georg Schlosser, fotoautomatwien.com
The awards
Ranks 1-3:
• Entry ca. 120 x 23,5 cm, mounted by cyberlab On-Silicon 2+2, in the exhibition until 13 January 2013, afterwards in the winners' possession
• cyberlab-voucher € 100,-
• Lomography-camera „Lomo LC-A+ Russia Day“ (rank 1), "Diana F+ Colette“ (rank 2), „La Sardina & Flash – Fischers Fritze“ (rank 3)
Ranks 4-10:
• cyberlab-voucher € 50,-
• Lomography-camera „La Sardina – Sapphire Serpent“ or "La Sardina – Domino"
In cooperation with:
