Jorit Aust :
The Weikendorf Portraits. A Photographic Intervention

The residents of Weikendorf were invited on eight days over two weeks to have themselves photographed in the Kunstraum. The setting was identical for all of the images, the viewpoint prescribed by a mark on the ground, with a view of the village square through the glass wall providing the backdrop. The classical parameters of photography were varied. The result was 1086 portraits. The photographs, all of the same size, were stuck to the walls arranged randomly in blocks. The presence of the installation goes beyond the quality of the individual images: Jorit Aust integrates the entire population of the community in his work in a manner that is as direct as it is conclusive. Accordingly, the idea of participation becomes an essential aspect of the work. The public and the art become part of the installation in an equal symbiosis. It is a portrait, a snapshot of a whole village, and at the same time it endorses a community. The process of creation here is a communicative social event — whereby the participatory element itself can be read as a proactive gesture in public space.
(Michael Kienzer)