The MAST Foundation presents a selection of large colour photographs taken by Thomas Struth since 2007 at industrial sites and scientific research centres throughout the world that represent cutting-edge technological experimentation and innovation.
One of the best known artists on the international scene, Struth takes us in realms and forbidden zones to which we do not normally have access, giving us a glimpse into the unexplored world behind technological innovation in 25 large-format works on display at the MAST PhotoGallery. Space research labs, plasma fusion experiments, operating theatres, and a drilling platform are photographed with painstaking precision and a remarkable visual sensibility.
The artist looks at sites where contemporary society is transformed and shows us scientific, highly technological experiments, developments, research, calibrations and interventions that will at some point, directly or not, impact our lives. In these images we can perceive the complexity, importance, and force of these processes, but we can also sense the power and the politics of knowledge, and the business they conceal.
As a reference to craftsmanship and the human capacity for highly developed artisanal skills and artistic precision, at Level 0 of the MAST.Gallery we are also screening the 2003 video installation Read This Like Seeing It For The First Time. Featuring five classic guitar lessons by Frank Bungarten at the Lucerne Hochschule, the video shows the meticulously orchestrated interaction between teacher and students in music tuition and demonstrates just what it takes in terms of teaching and learning, giving and receiving.