F'AR: Pictorial Composites, 2024

The exhibition featured a selection of Schaerer's artistic works, as well as a variety of student works created within his teaching modules "Constructing The View" at the School of Architecture of EPF Lausanne in the fields of art and architecture. The presented works focused on the generation and processing of image data, as well as on the exploration of digital image strategies, concepts, and aesthetics.
 
On display were a wide range of digitally developed artworks: Be it compositions that have been crafted through the assembly of pictorial fragments or 3D components, or artworks that, starting from photography, have been broken, deconstructed, and abstracted in their photorealistic features through various image processing techniques. Additionally, some images were entirely newly conceived and generated through computer rendering or AI image generation. Displayed were image constructions that often follow their own logic: pictorial composites that initially adhere to the optical rules of photography but then reject them, emphasizing abstract two-dimensionality or transcending the real, inherent, interacting, physical laws of the depicted objects.
 
The exhibited artworks placed a strong emphasis on experimental and pictorial composition techniques. Additionally, the juxtaposition and rearrangement of seemingly incompatible elements were central themes in some of the works. For instance, architectural, urban, and natural fragments were interwoven and connected in novel ways within the image, while everyday objects were reinterpreted and transposed into utopian urban and architectural structures. The exhibition featured image constructs that not only strived for the most precise implementation of photographic representation but also embraced fragmentation, distortion, and exaggeration—thereby redefining the distinction between image and reality.
 
The exhibition provided insights into contemporary image practices and showcased a wide range of computerized imaging approaches. It encouraged the exploration of digital image strategies and their aesthetics. The notion of the photographic image as an accurate representation of reality was critically examined and questioned. The exhibited works highlighted our inherent uncertainty and ambiguity in distinguishing between image and depiction, challenged our perception, and raised awareness of the increasingly blurred boundaries between fiction and reality in our time.
 
Co-Curation: Maria João Cunha and Clémentine Coléou (F’AR)
Graphic Design Poster & Flyer: Nina Flaitz & Nicolas Bernklau