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EDICIONES UNIVERSIDAD DE SALAMANCA


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EDICIONES UNIVERSIDAD DE SALAMANCA


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6 []m th wd. th w f jd w

Barry Barker

7 []zd md. b d j w

Barry Barker

17 t t, 2000

31 pt, t, , bzzd, 2000

39 dm tm, 2001

48 t-ftt mh: thht th phtph f j d w

F. Javier Panera

49 m tftt: db ftf d j d

w F. Javier Panera

57 f ht, 2003

68 tw wth j d w Mary Horlock

69 tt j w Mary Horlock

82 ht f th ft th p f db t (d f

j d w) carlos Trigueros

83 ftm d ft pd db d (d d

j w ) carlos Trigueros

99 bf | bph

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d | dx


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Forourhouseisourcorneroftheworld.Ashasoften

beensaid,itisourfirstuniverse,arealcosmosinevery

senseoftheword.

The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard (Beacon Press,

Boston, 1969)

T

his quotation from Gaston Bachelard provides a

metaphor, which can usefully serve as a description

for the scope and breadth of the video and

photographic works of Jane and Louise Wilson.

Bachelards house implies an intimate and familiar

space that exists within the larger context of an unfamiliar

universe; it is a universe which is known to be some

where, waiting to be explored. It is also implicit in his

statement, that the concept of the house, however

familiar and comprehended, as a space can also be a

cosmos of as yet unknown experiences and emotions.

All spaces, whether they are created by a natural process

within a landscape or are planned and built as part of an

architectural environment, acquire a history, a meaning and

a significance which touches the imagination of those who

inhabit them and those who deliberately seek them out.

Places and spaces accumulate memory; an atmosphere

created not only through human occupation but also by

the events of history and the political significance that

surrounds and passes through them. The use and function

that a building has been associated with throughout time

informs any understanding of a public or private response

to its significance. Whenever a structure or a building

goes through a change of use or is abandoned due to

economic and political collapse or is ravaged by military

conflict, there is always a residue of memory and images

remaining within its walls. By taking this phenomenological

approach to our surroundings it is possible to integrate into

an extended context our reading of the many dispersed

images that we experience.

Our personal environment is almost literally our

corner of the world into which the unfamiliar comes

to us through extensive media coverage of images and

information via a complex technological network. It is

a communications network that appears to have no

boundaries, from one side of the globe to another as well

as into outer space and back. Even without first hand

experience there are few reasons not to be aware of the

global context within which we live. The images seen on

television screens together with the photographs published

in newspapers extend our knowledge of world events and

provoke our intellect and emotions. But what is it we are

looking at and where is it? Its not here and it appears to

be nowhere. In fact we are looking at an image, which has

been distanced from the object. An image of something

that has disappeared, that the world has abandoned but

[]m th wd.th w f j d wBarry Barker


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Porquenuestracasaesnuestrorincndelmundo.Como

amenudosehadicho,esnuestroprimeruniverso.Esunverdaderocosmos,uncosmosentodoslossentidosde

lapalabra.

La potica del espacio, Gaston Bachelard1

Esta cita de Gaston Bachelard contiene una metfora

que puede servirnos como descripcin del alcance

y la amplitud de las obras de vdeo y fotografa de

Jane y Louise Wilson.

La casa de Bachelard implica un espacio ntimo

y familiar que existe dentro del contexto ms amplio de

un universo no-familiar; es un universo que sabemos

que est en alguna parte, aguardando ser explorado.

De su afirmacin tambin se deduce que el concepto

de casa, por muy familiar que sea y por muy bien que

lo comprendamos, como espacio puede siempre ser

un cosmos de experiencias y emociones que todava

desconocemos. Todos los espacios, tanto si son creados

mediante un proceso natural dentro de un paisaje como si

son planificados y construidos como parte de un entorno

arquitectnico, adquieren una historia, un significado y una

importancia que espolean la imaginacin de aquellos que

los habitan y de aquellos que los buscan deliberadamente.

Los lugares y los espacios acumulan memoria: una

atmsfera creada no slo por la ocupacin humana, sino

tambin por los acontecimientos histricos y el significado

poltico que los rodea y pasa a travs de ellos. El uso y la

funcin con los que un edificio ha sido asociado a lo largo

de los aos influyen en cualquier comprensin de una

respuesta pblica o privada ante su importancia. Siempre

que una estructura o edificio experimenta un cambio de

funcin o es abandonado debido a una crisis econmica

o poltica o es arrasado por un conflicto militar, hay un

residuo de memoria e imgenes que permanece dentro

de sus muros. Adoptando ese enfoque fenomenolgico

frente a nuestro entorno, es posible integrar en un

contexto ms amplio nuestra lectura de las mltiples

imgenes dispersas que percibimos.

Nuestro entorno personal es, casi literalmente,

nuestro rincn del mundo, en el que lo no-familiar nos

llega a travs de una extensiva cobertura meditica de

imgenes e informacin gracias a una compleja red

tecnolgica. Es una red de comunicaciones que parece

no tener fronteras, de un lado al otro del globo, as como

hacia el espacio exterior y de vuelta. Aun careciendo de

experiencias de primera mano, existen pocas razones

para no darse cuenta del contexto global en el que

vivimos. Las imgenes de las pantallas televisivas, junto

a las fotografas publicadas en los peridicos, amplan

nuestro conocimiento de los acontecimientos mundiales

y estimulan nuestro intelecto y emociones. Pero, qu

estamos viendo y dnde est? No est aqu y parece no

estar en ninguna parte. De hecho, estamos viendo una

imagen que se ha distanciado del objeto. Una imagen de

algo que ha desaparecido, que el mundo ha abandonado,

pero que ahora regresa. En el proceso, la imagen se ha

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has now returned. In the process the image has redefined

itself and now carries many other layers of significance.

To establish a starting point from which to begin their

journey, Jane and Louise Wilson began several years ago

to photograph what was familiar, such as places near to

where they lived, their flat and hotel rooms. But as they

say in their interview with Mary Horlock: Inevitably a shift

occurred, where we wanted to explore more complex and

maybe more troubling spaces. At this early stage in thedevelopment of their work they show an awareness and

understanding of a conceptual framework, whereby a

space can, through their intervention as artists, be made

to signify and capture more than the physical reality of the

place itself. It is the particularity of the conceptual framework

that the Wilsons utilize in their work, together with the

loaded cultural identity that surrounds the locations, that

enables them to produce images that exist in their own

right independent of the objects depicted. These images

go beyond objective description and do not emphasize

picturesque features but rather represent the traces of past

and present activity, sometimes suggesting concepts of

dilapidation and abandonment. The images exist as if they

are attached to a place rather than being a representation of

it. They provoke within the viewer a consciousness, which

is like that of observing a projection of a psychological

phenomenon. Although in most of the still images, figures

are absent there is always a sense of a past occupation

or a current absence. The photographs appear to have a

heightened sensitivity to the lives and daydreams of the

previous inhabitants of a chosen location. The images

produced by the camera are transformations of the artists

perception rather than factual representations of a space.

These images reveal an entirely new structural formation

of the subject, which produces within the viewer, an

alternative and extended sense of authenticity. The artists

use of the still camera however planned and deliberate,in some respects produces photographic representations

that introduces the concept of an unconscious vision,

similar in function to the way that psychoanalysis can make

us aware of our unconscious impulses. It is as if for the

moment of exposure the aspirations and dreams of those

connected to the space are registered via a technological

process. The resulting photographs evoke in the viewer

a consciousness that suppresses the idea of narrativein favor of a passivity that allows a live and imaginative

relationship with the image.

Jane and Louise Wilsons journey of exploration

which began close to home has taken them as far afield

as Star City, a cosmonaut training centre just outside

of Moscow, Russia and the Baikonur cosmodrome in

Kazakhstan. Two locations that by definition are built of

dreams and aspirations and founded for the people of


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redefinido y, en la actualidad, cuenta con muchos otros

estratos de significado.

Para establecer un punto de partida a partir del

cual comenzar su viaje, hace algunos aos Jane y

Louise Wilson empezaron a fotografiar lo que les era

familiar, como lugares cerca de donde vivan, su piso y

habitaciones de hotel. Sin embargo, como afirman en su

entrevista con Mary Horlock: Inevitablemente, se produjo

un cambio, queramos explorar espacios ms complejos y

tal vez ms inquietantes.En esa fase inicial de desarrollode su obra, se muestran conscientes y conocedoras de la

existencia de un marco conceptual por el que un espacio,

mediante su intervencin como artistas, puede llegar a

significar y captar ms que la realidad fsica del lugar en

s. La particularidad del marco conceptual que Jane y

Louise Wilson utilizan en su trabajo, adems de la cargada

identidad cultural que rodea las localizaciones, es lo que

les permite producir imgenes que existen por propio

derecho, independientemente de los objetos reproducidos.

Esas imgenes van ms all de la descripcin objetiva y

no resaltan los rasgos pintorescos sino que ms bien

representan las huellas de la actividad pasada y presente,

sugiriendo en ocasiones conceptos de ruina y abandono.

Las imgenes existen como si estuvieran ligadas al lugar

ms que como representacin de dicho lugar. Provocan

en el espectador un estado de conciencia que es como

el que experimentamos al observar la proyeccin de

un fenmeno psicolgico. Aunque en la mayora de las

fotografas no aparecen figuras humanas, se tiene siempre

la sensacin de ocupacin pasada o de ausencia actual.

Las fotografas parecen tener una sensibilidad acentuada

respecto a las vidas y las ensoaciones de los anteriores

habitantes de la localizacin elegida. Las imgenes creadas

por la cmara son transformaciones de la percepcin de

las artistas ms que representaciones factuales de un

espacio. Esas imgenes revelan una formacin estructural

completamente nueva del tema, lo que produce en el

espectador una sensacin alternativa y ampliada de

autenticidad. No obstante, el uso de la cmara fija por

parte de las artistas, planificado y deliberado, en variossentidos, da lugar a representaciones fotogrficas que

introducen el concepto de visin inconsciente, con una

funcin similar a la del psicoanlisis, que puede hacernos

conscientes de nuestros impulsos inconscientes. Es como

si durante ese momento de exposicin, las aspiraciones

y sueos de aquellos que estn relacionados con el

espacio se registraran mediante un proceso tecnolgico.

Las fotografas resultantes evocan en el espectador una

consciencia que suprime la idea de narracin en favorde una pasividad que permite establecer una viva e

imaginativa relacin con la imagen.

El viaje de exploracin de Jane y Louise Wilson,

que comenz en las proximidades de su hogar, las ha

llevado a un lugar tan remoto como Star City, un centro de

entrenamiento de cosmonautas a las afueras de Mosc,

Rusia, y al cosmdromo de Baikonur en Kazajstn. Dos

localizaciones que, por definicin, estn hechas de

sueos y aspiraciones y que fueron fundadas para la


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10

the future. Both these locations have been built to project,

physically and metaphorically, humankinds desire to

experience and inhabit another space. The photographic

images that the artists have produced from these locations

can be described as what remains of the residue of these

lofty aspirations. Although both places still function and

have their use, the artists focus the viewers attention

on a strange authenticity which is more mundane and

unfamiliar than we are lead to expect from the more usual

media coverage of space exploration. The ironic quality inmuch of the Wilsons photographic work is that whatever

unfamiliar location they choose to explore, however remote

from our experience, they are capable of producing

images that seem strangely intimate.

One such image is Changing Room,

Hydrolaboratorium, Star City, 2000. It shows a corner

of a room with a bank of well-used wooden lockers and

a couple of benches. The drawn curtains at the windows,

which filter the sunlight and veil the outside world from view,

subdue the lighting and atmosphere. The silhouette of the

potted plant is the only reminder of a natural environment.

This room evokes the beginning of a transition from one

world to another, and is a reminder of what will be left

behind. In this case literally the garments and souvenirs

of every day life that will remain in these lockers while their

inhabitants prepare to re-attire for the rigors of a simulated

environment. The intimacy held within this image is a

reminder of our own memories whether it be changing for

a sporting activity or to don protective clothing in order to

begin a working shift in a mine or factory. In contrast the

work Skarfaundary, Star City, 2000, juxtaposes within

the one image the sophistication of scientific research,

symbolized by the empty space suits and the ordinariness

of the familiar domestic storage units that they rest upon.

These are both images of transition stripped of narrative.

We are invited to observe but not take part. As too havethe artists, who have not intervened or arranged any of

the images other than with their presence behind the

eye of the camera. The undiluted authenticity of these

two photographs provides the context in which we can

assimilate the other images in this series.

At first glance, Cosmonaut Suits, Mir, Star City,

2000, is a photograph that we are more accustomed

to expect from the documentary coverage of space

exploration. It could be a depiction of a tableau that might

be encountered in a science museum, but as we focus

our attention on the image we become aware of it having

a different significance. The orange structure that supports

the suites is obviously utilitarian and together with the

context of the rest of the apparatus creates the impression

of function and procedure rather than that of mere display.

The drawn back curtains in the foreground not only act


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gente del futuro. Ambas localizaciones se han construido

para proyectar, fsica y metafricamente, el deseo delser humano de experimentar y habitar otro espacio. Las

imgenes fotogrficas que las artistas han producido a

partir de esas localizaciones pueden describirse como lo

que queda de los residuos de esas elevadas aspiraciones.

Aunque ambos lugares siguen en funcionamiento y poseen

una utilidad, las artistas centran la atencin del espectador

en una extraa autenticidad que es ms prosaica y menos

familiar que lo que podramos esperar tras haber visto las

imgenes ms habituales de los medios de comunicacinde la exploracin espacial. La cualidad irnica de gran

parte de la obra fotogrfica de Jane y Louise Wilson reside

en que no importa lo poco familiar que sea la localizacin

que eligen explorar, por muy ajena que sea a nuestra

experiencia, es capaz de producir imgenes que resultan

extraamente ntimas.

Una de estas imgenes es Changing Room,

Hydrolaboratorium, Star City, 2000. Muestra la esquina de

una habitacin con una serie de taquillas de madera muy

usadas y un par de bancos. Las cortinas de las ventanas,

que estn echadas, filtrando la luz solar y velando nuestra

visin del mundo exterior, suavizan la luz y la atmsfera.

La silueta de la planta en el tiesto slo es un recordatorio

de un entorno natural. Esta habitacin evoca el comienzo

de una transicin de un mundo a otro y es un recordatorio

de lo que se dejar atrs. En este caso, literalmente

las prendas y los recuerdos de la vida cotidiana, que

se quedarn en esas taquillas mientras sus habitantes

cambian de atuendo para adaptarse a los rigores de

un entorno simulado. La intimidad que encierra estaimagen nos trae a la mente nuestros propios recuerdos,

ya sea del momento de cambiarnos para practicar un

deporte, como de ataviarnos con ropa protectora con

el fin de comenzar un turno de trabajo en una mina o

una fbrica. En contraste, la obra Skarfaundary, Star

City, 2000, yuxtapone dentro de una sola imagen la

sofisticacin de la investigacin cientfica, simbolizada

por los trajes espaciales vacos, y la cotidianeidad de las

familiares unidades de almacenamiento domstico sobrelas que descansan. Ambas son imgenes de transicin

despojadas de narrativa. Se nos invita a observar pero no

a participar. De la misma manera que a las artistas, que

no han intervenido u organizado ninguna de las imgenes

aparte de con su presencia detrs del ojo de la cmara.

La autenticidad no diluida de esas dos fotografas nos

facilita el contexto en el que podemos asimilar las otras

imgenes de esta serie.

A primera vista, Cosmonaut Suits, Mir, Star City,

2000,es una fotografa que estamos ms acostumbrados

a esperar de la cobertura documental de la exploracin

espacial. Podra ser una reproduccin de una escena

con la que podemos toparnos en un museo de ciencias,

pero al centrar nuestra atencin en la imagen nos

damos cuenta de que tiene un significado diferente. La

estructura naranja que sustenta los trajes es claramente

funcional y, junto con el contexto del resto del aparato,

crea la impresin de funcionamiento y procedimiento

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as a framing device for the image but also emphasis the

deliberate act of revealing something in particular, while

by contrast, in Changing Room the curtains are used to

maintain privacy. In both these images the viewer becomes

aware that the content of the work is closely connected

to the act of observing and revealing as well as that of

representation. The work,Rising I.S.S.,Hydrolaboratorium.

Star City, 2000, reveals a simulated world unified as an

image by a blue veil. The object in this photograph is a

fragment of a space station submerged in a tank of waterin which cosmonauts experience working in the weightless

atmosphere of space. This image establishes a boundary

beyond which our personal experience can not take us

and for the majority it is left to the realm of imagination that

will transport us further.

Space travel itself is a metaphor for the desire to

venture to another place, and to explore far into a space

that has no boundaries. Yet there is the one boundary

that is determined by the ability to return to earth, to what

we know and what is familiar. Whether the journey is

real or imaginary there remains the question of what has

changed during this absence? It could be nothing more

than the difference in our perception of what was familiar

and a stronger awareness of our memories. Through

their work, Jane and Louise Wilson take the viewer into

unfamiliar and possibly in some cases strange territory butwith their guidance we do not loose sight of reality and

through their authorship we become aware of the plurality

of meaning that the images convey. Their work offers us

the opportunity to integrate their vision into our corner of

the worldwhile extending the understanding of our own

visual experience.

The irony for many a traveler can be that however

far they journey, a place near to home can carry as much

fascination and significance as that from which they have

returned. This is true for Jane and Louise Wilson when theyrediscovered a factory close to their origins in Newcastle

that had been developed as a purpose-built space for the

manufacture of microchips. The series of works that their

encounter with this space produced is visually far removed

from that ofStar City, however in theoretical and possibly

unconscious terms there is a connection. Both places

suggest thoughts relating to the concepts of fabrication

and survival. In Star City the objective is to fabricate the

conditions and atmosphere of outer space so that it can

become a familiar environment for those selected to work

within it. Ironically in the Atmel series of photographs we

are aware that these spaces are not for the benefit of

those humans working within them. But are the results of

an environment orientated towards the fabrication by mass

automation of tiny units that are manufactured to function

within a remote technological context. The relevance to

the concept of survival in the context of this environment isone of being economic in as much as the redevelopment

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ms que de mera exposicin. Las negras cortinas

descorridas en primer plano no slo actan como unmarco para la imagen, sino tambin resaltan el acto

deliberado de revelar algo en particular, mientras que, por

el contrario, en Changing Room las cortinas se emplean

para mantener la intimidad. En ambas imgenes, el

espectador cobra conciencia de que el contenido de

la obra est estrechamente relacionado con el acto de

observar y revelar, as como con el de la representacin.

La obra,Rising I.S.S, Hydrolaboratorium. Star City,2000,

revela un mundo simulado unificado como imagen por unvelo azul. El objeto que aparece en esta fotografa es un

fragmento de estacin espacial sumergido en un tanque

de agua en el que los cosmonautas experimentan lo que

supone trabajar en la atmsfera ingrvida del espacio.

Esta imagen establece una frontera ms all de la cual

nuestra experiencia personal no puede llevarnos y para

la mayora queda en el reino de la imaginacin, que nos

transportar an ms lejos.

En s mismos, los viajes espaciales son una metforadel deseo de aventurarnos en otro lugar y de explorar un

espacio que no tiene fronteras. No obstante, hay una

frontera que viene determinada por la capacidad de

regresar a la tierra, a lo que conocemos y nos es familiar.

Tanto si el viaje es real como si es imaginario, la pregunta

de qu ha cambiado durante esa ausencia permanece

abierta. Probablemente nada ms que la diferencia en

nuestra percepcin de lo que era familiar y una conciencia

ms intensa de nuestros recuerdos. A travs de suobra, Jane y Louise Wilson llevan al espectador hacia

un territorio que no le es familiar y que posiblemente, en

algunos casos, sea extrao, pero con su orientacin noperdemos de vista la realidad y, a travs de su autora, nos

percatamos de la pluralidad de significados que transmiten

las imgenes. Su obra nos ofrece la oportunidad de

integrar su visin en nuestro rincn del mundo a la vez

que extendemos la comprensin de nuestra experiencia

visual.

La irona para muchos viajeros puede ser que,

no importa lo lejos que viajen, un lugar cerca del hogarpuede encerrar tanta fascinacin y significado como el

lugar del que han regresado. Ese es el caso de Jane

y Louise Wilson, que redescubrieron una fbrica cerca

de sus orgenes en Newcastle que ha sido renovada,

transformndose en un espacio absolutamente funcional

para la fabricacin de microchips. La serie de obras que

produjo su encuentro con este espacio est muy alejada

visualmente de Star City, aunque en trminos tericos

y posiblemente inconscientes, existe una conexin.

Ambos lugares sugieren pensamientos en relacin conlos conceptos de fabricacin y supervivencia. En Star

City, el objetivo es fabricar las condiciones y la atmsfera

del espacio exterior de forma que pueda convertirse en

un entorno familiar para aquellos seleccionados para

trabajar all. Irnicamente, en la serie de fotografas de

Atmel, somos conscientes de que esos espacios no

sirven para el beneficio de los seres humanos que trabajan

en la fbrica, sino que son los resultados de un entorno

orientado hacia la produccin automatizada en masade unidades diminutas que se fabrican para funcionar

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of this factory brought a continuity of employment to the

area of the North East of England that would other wise

be lacking. In contrast the cosmonaut-training program

is literally orientated to the survival of human life within a

physically alien environment.

The workSafe Light Corridor, 2003 is an image that

could justifiably produce in our mind thoughts of a futuristic

world but the lack of any trace of human activity does not

encourage memories of such places only perhaps in our

dreams. All the photographs in this series produce this

effect which emanates a certain distance from the image.

However close we get to a work such as Safe Light,

Reflected Ballroom, 2003 there is the awareness that we

can go no further and to do so would be to threaten its

sterility and sequentially its meaning. These works reveal

a great deal as to the authenticity of Jane and Louise

Wilsons vision in that those viewing these images are

sometimes strangely conscious of what cannot be seen

while remaining positively aware of the perspective from

which they are looking. It is the word Ballroom that the

artists have utilized in the titles of these works that brings

a human presence into the images and introduces the

memory of a more familiar context.

What the work of these artists does is to evoke

and quicken our own experience and memory. Memories,

which are motionless, linked to the experience of space

rather than time. The place where we were brought up

as a child or where we first lived as an adult can always

be evoked if necessary when we venture further afield

and feel a sense of insecurity and need the comfort of

familiarity. The images that the Wilsons create however

strange to us at first sight are true to the boundaries of

their own experience. It is as if the viewer is able to return

aspects of these images back to a place that is familiar to

their own experience.

Barry Barker, Centre for Contemporary and Visual Art (CCVA),

University of Brighton.

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dentro de un contexto tecnolgico remoto. La relevancia

del concepto de supervivencia en el contexto de esteentorno es el de ser rentable en la medida en que la

reforma de esa fbrica permiti la continuidad del empleo

en el rea del Noreste de Inglaterra, que no se habra

producido de otra manera. Por el contrario, el programa de

entrenamiento del cosmonauta est literalmente orientado

a la supervivencia de la vida humana dentro de un entorno

fsicamente alienante.

La obra Safe Light Corridor, 2003, es una imagen quepodra, con razn, llenar nuestra mente de pensamientos

de un mundo futurista, pero la falta de cualquier huella de

actividad humana no despierta recuerdos de tales lugares,

slo tal vez en nuestros sueos. Todas las fotografas en

esta serie producen ese efecto, que provoca una cierta

distancia de la imagen. Por mucho que nos acerquemos

a una obra como Safe Light, Reflected Ballroom, 2003,

existe una conciencia de que no podemos ir ms all

y que hacerlo sera amenazar su esterilidad y, de forma

subsecuente, su significado. Esas obras revelan granparte de la autenticidad de la visin de Jane y Louise

Wilson puesto que los que ven esas imgenes a veces

son extraamente conscientes de lo que no puede verse,

a la vez que son claramente conscientes de la perspectiva

desde la que estn mirando. Es la palabra Ballroom (sala

de baile), que las artistas han utilizado en los ttulos de

esas obras, la que introduce una presencia humana en

las imgenes e introduce el recuerdo de un contexto ms

familiar.

Lo que hace la obra de estas artistas es evocar

y acelerar nuestra propia experiencia y recuerdos. Losrecuerdos, que son inmviles, ligados a la experiencia

del espacio ms que a la del tiempo. El lugar en el que

crecimos de nios o en el que vivimos por primera vez

de adultos siempre puede evocarse si es necesario

cuando nos aventuramos en otros lugares y tenemos

sensacin de inseguridad y necesitamos el consuelo de

la familiaridad. Las imgenes que Jane y Louise Wilson

crean, aunque nos resulten extraas a primera vista, son

fieles a las fronteras de su propia experiencia. Es comosi el espectador fuera capaz de devolver aspectos de

esas imgenes a un lugar que es familiar a su propia

experiencia.

Barry Barker, Centre for Contemporary and Visual Art (CCVA),

Universidad de Brighton.

1 N.T.: Traduccin del original francs:La potique de lespace (Presses

Universitaires de France, Pars,1974).

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It could be pure coincidence, but a little over two years

ago, almost at the same time that I saw Jane and Louise

Wilsons photographs and videos from the series Star

CityandDream Time, on 19th March 2001, the American

Fox TV channel broadcast a programme presented by

Mitch Pileggi an actor from the popular TV series The

X-Files. The series, Conspiracy Theory: Did we land on

the moon? questioned the authenticity of the voyages

made to the moon by American astronauts during the

sixties, explaining that the famous images of the moon

landing in 1969 were purely a clumsy conspiracy in orderto reaffirm Americas technological superiority over the

Russians. Paradoxically, the different technical points used

to question the veracity of the moon landings revolved

around the background settings and lighting of the

photographs supposedly taken by the astronauts.

Almost at the same time, on 12th April 2001, the

anniversary of the first manned space flight, the Russian

dailyPravda surprised the world with the revelation thatYuri Gagarin was not the first man sent to space. Between

1957 and 1959 another three pilots had been sent there

but had died in the attempt, just as it was revealed that the

dog Laika, famous for oribiting the earth in a space ship

over the period of a week, had actually died of a heart

attack caused by panic just a few hours after take off...

Obviously these types of failures could not be admitted

publicly by either of the superpowers since it would run

against the technological triumphalism which formed an

essential part of the strategic propaganda of the Cold

War.

In November 2002, when I began to write this essay

on the photographic work of Jane and Louise Wilson,

it emerged that NASA had commissioned the reputed

engineer and popular scientist James E. Oberg to write

a book whose mission was to scientifically demonstrate

to sceptical citizens that man had really stepped onto

the moon. This reminded me of a book published in

1997 by the Spanish photographer Joan Fontcuberta

entitled Sputnik in which the life of a fictional astronaut

was recreated actually Fontcuberta himself through

the recycling and manipulation of old photographs from

the Soviet space race. In this context it should be

remembered that the space race was one of the great

propaganda tools of the Cold War period, the technology

of the space rockets were similar to the long range missiles

which formed the backbone of the nuclear arsenal of the

United States and Russia. Today we also know that some

of the giant missiles presented at the military parades held

annually in Moscow and promptly broadcast through our

televisions, were little more than papier-mch models,

created in order to perpetuate the sense of insecurity

and collective psychosis within the populations of the two

major blocks.

I have made this lengthy introduction because a

4

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Puede que sea una coincidencia, pero hace algo

ms de dos aos, casi por las mismas fechas

en que vi por primera vez las fotografas y los

vdeos de las series Star City yDream Time de Jane

and Louise Wilson, el 19 de marzo de 2001, la cadena

norteamericana de televisin Fox emiti un programa

presentado por Mitch Pileggi, actor de la popular serie

Expediente X, que llevaba por ttulo Conspiracy Theory,

Did we land on the moon?, (La teora de la conspiracin:

Hemos aterrizado en la luna?), en el cual se cuestionaba

la veracidad de los viajes a la luna llevados a cabo en

los aos sesenta por los astronautas norteamericanos,

explicando las famosas imgenes del alunizaje de

1969, como una burda conspiracin para reafirmar la

superioridad tecnolgica de los americanos sobre los

rusos. Paradjicamente, eran diferentes consideraciones

tcnicas en torno a los encuadres y la iluminacin de las

fotografas supuestamente tomadas por los astronautas lo

que se utilizaba como argumento para poner en duda la

verosimilitud del alunizaje.

Casi de un modo simultneo, el 12 de abril de

2001, aniversario del primer viaje tripulado al espacio, el

diario rusoPravda sorprenda al mundo con la revelacin

de que Yuri Gagarin no fue el primer hombre enviado al

espacio; entre 1957 y 1959 se haban enviado a otros

tres pilotos soviticos que murieron en sus respectivas

tentativas, del mismo modo se desvel que la perra Laika,

famosa por orbitar en una nave espacial durante una

semana alrededor de la tierra, haba muerto a las pocas

horas del despegue de un ataque al corazn provocado

por el pnico... obviamente este tipo de fracasos no

podan ser admitidos pblicamente por ninguna de las

dos superpotencias pues chocaban con el triunfalismo

tecnolgico que requera la estrategia propagandstica de

la Guerra Fra.

En noviembre de 2002, cuando comenc a redactar

este ensayo a propsito del trabajo fotogrfico de Jane and

Louise Wilson, sali a la luz la noticia de que la NASA haba

encargado al reputado ingeniero y divulgador cientficoJames E. Oberg que escribiese un libro en el cual tena

la misin de demostrar cientficamente a los ciudadanos

escpticos que el hombre haba pisado verdaderamente

la luna y esto me hizo recordar un libro publicado en

1997 por el fotgrafo espaol Joan Fontcuberta que

llevaba por ttulo Sputniken el cual se recreaba la vida

de un astronauta ficticio el propio Fontcuberta- a partir

de la reutilizacin y manipulacin de viejas fotografas

relacionadas con la carrera espacial sovitica. En estecontexto no hay que olvidar que la carrera espacial fue uno

de los grandes escaparates propagandsticos del periodo

de la Guerra Fra, la tecnologa de los cohetes espaciales

era similar a la de los misiles de largo alcance que

formaban la columna vertebral del arsenal armamentstico

nuclear de Estados Unidos y la Unin Sovitica. Hoy

sabemos igualmente, que algunos de los gigantescos

misiles que se presentaban en los escenogrficos desfiles

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large part of the work carried out by Jane and Louise

Wilson in recent years has been dedicated to exploring

the sociological means and visual and scenic mechanisms

that those in power employ in order to generate paranoia

about security, access to information and political, military

and technological control.

The photographs in the series Star CityandProton,

Unity, Energy, Blizzard and the video Dream time were

taken between 2000 and 2001 at a training centre

for cosmonauts on the outskirts of Moscow now in

disuse and at a space centre located in the south of

Kazakhstan kept secret during the times of the defunct

USSR with its launch platforms and rocket mounting

units, practically abandoned since the end of the Cold

War. The seductively retro-futuristic aesthetic which the

Wilsons invest into the images of the hydrolaboratorium,

the machine rooms where gravity was simulated, and the

launch platforms, serve as a counterpoint to the decadent

snapshots of antiquated looking waiting rooms with damppatches and chipped plaster walls, rusting machinery,

abandoned laboratories or a disturbing changing room

where we can make out various space suits carefully

placed on the shelves of a Formica cupboard like bodies

in a catacomb.

With the end of the great stories we are forced to live

with ruins of complex temporality which confront us with

phantasmal appearances; the fears and paranoia from a

not-too-distant time in the past which still sit within our

collective consciousness and come to the surface when

we contemplate these types of non-places created by

the abandoned space centres from the defunct USSR.

Despite their extreme coldness, by taking us back as

they do to the failure of the last utopia of modernity

the conquest of space and the climate of insecurity

and collective psychosis that led to the development

of atomic and nuclear powers during the 60s and 70s

these images can only be read as melancholic and why

not? romantic. The image of the diving suits abandonedin the wardrobe would in this sense function as a kind of

retro-futuristic memento mori.

Today, the figures of the astronauts and interplanetary

spaceships have become little less than mythological

players of a recent past, which for a long time functioned

as a metaphor for the changes which took place in

technologically advanced societies. But they also represent

the uncertainty of the unknown, which, in some ways,could be seen as part of the same mythical mindset that

figured so strongly in the characters of espionage and

counter-espionage operating in West Berlin during the

Cold War, which have also been evoked by the Wilsons

in earlier works such as Stasi City.

Through the hypnotic photographs and the disturbing

videos produced by Jane and Louise Wilson, we are

brought closer, with extraordinary clarity and a barely

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militares celebrados anualmente en Mosc y emitidos

puntualmente por nuestras televisiones, eran poco menos

que simulacros de cartn piedra, creados para perpetuar

un sentimiento de inseguridad y sicosis colectiva entre la

poblacin de los pases que integraban los dos grandes

bloques.

He hecho esta larga introduccin porque buena

parte del trabajo realizado en los ltimos aos por Jane and

Louise Wilson se ha consagrado a explorar los resortes

sicolgicos y los mecanismos visuales y escenogrficos

que utiliza el poder para generar paranoias en torno a laseguridad, el acceso a la informacin, el control poltico,

militar y tecnolgico.

Las fotografas de las series Star City yProton,

Unity, Energy, Blizzard y el vdeo Dream time, fueron

tomadas entre los aos 2000 y 2001, en un centro de

entrenamiento para astronautas situado a las afueras

de Mosc que hoy se encuentra en desuso, y en una

base espacial situada al sur de Kazajstn -secreta enlos tiempos de la extinta URSS- con sus plataformas

de lanzamiento y sus unidades de montaje de cohetes,

prcticamente abandonadas desde el final de la Guerra

Fra. La esttica, seductoramente retrofuturista con la que

estn revestidas las imgenes del hidrolaboratorium,

las salas de mquinas que simulan la gravedad o las

plataformas de lanzamiento, sirve de contrapunto a las

decadentes instantneas que muestran salas de espera

de aspecto anticuado con restos de humedad y las

paredes desconchadas, maquinaria oxidada, laboratorios

abandonados o un sobrecogedor vestuario en el que

apreciamos varios trajes de astronauta cuidadosamente

colocados sobre las baldas de un armario de formica

como si se tratara de cadveres en una catacumba.

Con el fin de los grandes relatos estamos obligados

a convivir con ruinas de temporalidad compleja que

nos confrontan con presencias fantasmales; con miedos

y paranoias de un periodo no muy lejano que todava

continan instalados en nuestro inconsciente colectivo y

afloran al contemplar esta especie de no lugares en quese han convertido las bases espaciales abandonadas de

la extinta URSS. A pesar de su extrema frialdad, la lectura

que puede hacerse de estas imgenes, que nos remiten al

fracaso de la ltima utopa de la modernidad: la conquista

del espacio y al clima de inseguridad y sicosis colectiva

que gener el desarrollo del poder atmico y nuclear en

los aos sesenta y setenta, no puede ser de otro modo

que melanclica y porqu no decirlo?: romntica. La

imagen de las escafandras abandonadas sobre el armariofuncionara en este sentido como una suerte de memento

mori retrofuturista.

Las figuras de los astronautas y las aeronaves

interplanetaras se han convertido hoy en poco menos

que personajes mitolgicos de un pasado reciente que

durante mucho tiempo funcionaron como metfora de los

cambios en las sociedades tecnolgicamente avanzadas,

pero tambin de la incertidumbre ante lo desconocido

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perceptible touch of irony, to the utopian contradictions

created during this period and to the complex sociological

mechanisms which were used by those in power and

which are being used again today, if we consider the

upheavals in international politics since 9/11 in order to

perpetuate their dominance.

The other photographic series that I would like

to comment on is entitled Safe Light, in which the

future is now and the utopias of modernity have been

substituted for the cold reality of postmodern technological

supremacy. Whoever has the technology holds the power;

they have the information and the knowledge, and, in the

short term, as suggested by films like The Matrix, they

have the possibility to create life from living fictions.

As pointed out by Vicente Verd in an article published

recently in the El Pas newspaper (Sunday 11th May,

2003), IBM has projected that by 2005, they will have

created Blue Gene which will be capable of transmitting

the complete contents of the Library of Congress of theUnited States in less than two seconds and of serving the

development of the life sciences industry with a potential

equivalent to the combination of 500 of the worlds largest

supercomputers Meanwhile, according to the renowned

Moore Law, by 2010, the hardware of the most developed

computer will be more powerful that the human brain

and in a few years, it will be within the capabilities of any

software.

Safe Light consists of six photographs taken in

Atmel, a hi-tech microchip factory. All dramatic and

narrative emphasis is kept to a minimum, the images

are devoid of any human presence, and the spaces

are bathed in a pale, yellow light evenly spread over

each section and each object until it is completely

denaturalised. Witnessing this rigorous formality with

which this world has been standardised real now, not

utopian consisting exclusively of computer monitors,

arteries of cables, shining metallic tubes, and furnishing

units set out in serene geometric order, reminds me ofan article recently published in Wired magazine by the

scientific executive ofMicrosytems, entitled Why the future

doesnt need us. His vision essentially harkened back

to what Kubrick anticipated in 2001- A Space Odyssey:

a disturbing reflection on our future-present which

reveals the impotence and perplexity of the individual

confronted with the technical domination over the spirit.

The rooms cleared of all human presence documented

in the photographs of Jane and Louise Wilson reflect thismoment in which man arrives at a state of emptiness and

depersonalisation which, in Kubricks film was filled by HAL

9000 (a name created by the two forms of thought and

communication: Heuristic and Algorithmic).

In this sense, Star City and Safe Light show the

two sides of the technological utopias created during the

20th and 21st centuries. The 20th century brought about

the development of nuclear, chemical and biological

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y de algn modo, se sitan en la misma tesitura mtica

que la figura del espa y el contraespa que operaban en

Berln Oriental en los tiempos de la Guerra fra, los cuales

tambin han sido evocados por las Wilson en trabajos

anteriores como Stasi City.

A travs de sus hipnticas fotografas y de sus

inquietantes vdeos Jane and Louise Wilson, se aproximan

con extraordinaria clarividencia y una pizca de irona casi

imperceptible a las contradicciones utpicas generadas

en este periodo y a los complejos mecanismos sicolgicos

que por entonces pero tambin hoy, segn comprobamosal analizar el giro dado por la poltica internacional tras el

11 de septiembre utilizaba el poder para perpetuarse en

el tiempo.

La otra serie fotogrfica que me interesa comentar

lleva por ttulo Safe Lighty en ella el futuro es hoy y las

utopas de la modernidad han sido sustituidas por la fra

realidad de la supremaca tecnolgica posmoderna. Quien

tiene la tecnologa tiene el poder, tiene la informacin yel conocimiento y a corto plazo, tal y como se propone

en pelculas como Matrix, la posibilidad de crear vida -o

ficciones de vida-. Segn sealaba Vicente Verd en un

artculo publicado recientemente en el peridico El Pas,

(Domingo, 11 de Mayo de 2003) IBM proyecta para

2005 su Blue Gene, un ordenador capaz de transmitir

el contenido completo de la Biblioteca del Congreso de

los Estados Unidos en menos de dos segundos y servir

al desarrollo de la industria de las ciencias de la vida con

una potencia superior a la suma de los 500 mayores

supercomputers del mundo... Complementariamente,

segn la conocida Ley de Moore, para 2010 el hardware

del ms desarrollado ordenador, superar el poder de la

mente humana y en pocos aos ser una conquista al

alcance de cualquiersoftware...

Safe Lightest integrada por seis fotografas tomadas

en Atmel, una planta de fabricacin de microchips de alta

tecnologa. Todo acento narrativo o dramtico es mnimo

en estas imgenes, privadas de cualquier presencia

humana, en las que los espacios aparecen baados poruna luz amarillenta que se distribuye homogneamente

por cada estancia y cada objeto hasta desnaturalizarlos

por completo. Viendo el rigor formal con el cual se

uniformiza este mundo real, ya no utpico integrado

exclusivamente por monitores de ordenador, arterias de

cables, tubos de brillo metlico y un mobiliario dispuesto

en sereno orden geomtrico, me viene a la memoria

otro artculo reciente, publicado en la revista Wired por el

cientfico jefe de la empresa Microsystems, que llevabapor ttuloPorqu el futuro no nos necesita (Why the future

doesnt need us), su visin restituye en esencia, lo que

Kubrick anticipaba en 2001 una odisea del espacio:

una reflexin inquietante sobre nuestro futuro-presente

que manifiesta la impotencia y perplejidad del individuo

ante la dominacin de la tcnica sobre el espritu. Las

habitaciones despojadas de presencia humana que

documentan las fotografas de Jane and Louise Wilson

reflejan ese instante en el cual el hombre llega a un estado

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technology so that in order to obtain power one needed

to be supplied with enormous quantities of raw materials,

information and formidable industrial installations. But in

the 21st century genetic, nano- and robotic technology do

not require such enormous resources because they are

designed to reproduce themselves We are implanting

the laws of biotechnology into places where Nature

doesnt have the opportunity to act, a scientist recently

commented at Cornell University, where they soon hope to

obtain molecular-sized computers and where bioscience

and robotics are being combined to design biometric

robots which can be programmed to reproduce At this

point, the world could continue without relying on humans,

it may come to a t ime when only the machines are capable

of creating life and storing knowledge, and only they are

able to reach a level of perfect fabrication

F. Javier Panera Center of Photograph. Universidad de

Salamanca

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de vaco y despersonalizacin que en el film de Kubrick

iba a ser llenado por el ordenador HAL 9000 (nombre

formado por la unin de los dos mtodos de conocimientoy comunicacin el Heurstico y el Algortmico).

Star CityySafe Lightmuestran en este sentido las

dos caras de las utopas tecnolgicas en los siglos XX y

XXI. El siglo XX potenci las tecnologas nuclear, qumica y

biolgica, que para ser potentes necesitaban abastecerse

de ingentes cantidades de materia prima, informacin e

instalaciones industriales formidables. Pero en el siglo XXI

la tecnologa gentica, la nanotecnologa y la robtica, nonecesitarn tantas dotaciones, porque sern diseadas

para reproducirse... Estamos implantando las leyes

de la Biotecnologa all donde la naturaleza no tiene

la oportunidad de actuar, sealaba recientemente un

cientfico de la Cornell University, donde se espera obtener

muy pronto ordenadores de talla molecular y donde

las biociencias y la robtica son utilizadas para disear

robots biomtricos programados para reproducirse...

Llegados a este punto el mundo podr seguir adelante sinla necesidad de humanos, pues llegar un momento en

el cual slo las mquinas sern capaces de crear vida y

almacenar conocimientos y slo ellas sern capaces de

alcanzar un nivel de fabricacin perfecta...

F. Javier Panera Centro de Fotografa. Universidad de Salamanca

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M

H: For this exhibition you are bringing together

two quite distinct bodies of photographic work,

created in and coming out of very differentlocations and contexts. Perhaps we should start by

discussing where they were taken.

LW: The earliest series was shot in Star City, just

outside Moscow, which we first visited in 1999. It was

a community dedicated to space travel, where they

developed a cosmonaut training programme under the

former Soviet regime. It is still a functioning training centre

for cosmonauts, only now of course it includes astronauts,since they are collaborating with the Americans on space

exploration.

JW: It was interesting that during Soviet times it was kept

secret and totally self-contained. We also photographed

in the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which was

again quite inaccessible. Both places were very important

for the regime, held up as shining examples of space,

progress, the future.

MH: So both sites are tied to an ideology, representing

the desire for power and supremacy, and part of the whole

Soviet propaganda machine. But it is also about myth in

the sense that they were remote and hidden, cut off from

daily life. Was your desire to expose or unpick the myth?

JW: We were very curious about [Star City] initially because

it was described as an architecture for the future, a

training ground for the people of the future. There was

this utopian vision, but also such a highly specialized

and incredibly focused training programme functioningat its core, with all these different buildings within which

various environments and conditions were tested out. The

buildings were all state of the art in their time, they were

once the most advanced centres of scientific development

in the world. But of course, visiting it today it all looked and

felt very dilapidated and out-of-date.

MH: But did you still get a sense of the idealism?

JW: Yes -from the people- when we were walking

around, taking photographs, our guide would say things

like: why are you looking at the cobwebs, we dont want

you to look at the cobwebs. Why are you not seeing the

progress? Of course, the dust and the traces of past

activity are just as much part of the reality of the place, like

skeletons, and we wanted to film those aspects as well.

LW: They still have this immense sense of pride - if you

were working at Star City you were effectively part of an

elite. Our guide was an ex-KGB person who was still

thinking in that way, so although the interiors were very

run-down, he would say oh its under renovation which

clearly wasnt the case.

MH: If these images represent an idea of the future from

the recent past, they are a poignant counter to the other

photographs you are showing here, images that were

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M

H: Para esta exposicin, habis reunido dos series

completamente distintas de trabajo fotogrfico,

creadas a partir de localizaciones y contextosmuy diferentes. Tal vez deberamos empezar hablando de

donde se tomaron esas fotografas.

LW: La primera serie se fotografi en Star City, justo a la

salida de Mosc, que visitamos por primera vez en 1999.

Star City era una comunidad dedicada a los viajes espaciales

en la que desarrollaron un programa de entrenamiento

de cosmonautas bajo el antiguo rgimen sovitico.

Sigue funcionando como centro de entrenamiento para

cosmonautas, slo que ahora, por supuesto, como estn

colaborando con los estadounidenses en la exploracin

espacial, incluye astronautas estadounidenses.

JW: Es muy interesante que en la poca sovitica se

mantuviera en secreto y fuera totalmente autosuficiente.

Tambin hicimos fotografas en el Cosmdromo de

Baikonur en Kazajstn, que tambin era absolutamente

inaccesible. Ambos lugares eran muy importantes para

el rgimen, se exhiban como flamantes ejemplos del

espacio, del progreso, del futuro.

MH: Entonces, ambos escenarios estaban ligados a una

ideologa, representaban el deseo de poder y supremaca,

y formaban parte de todo el aparato propagandstico

sovitico. Pero el mito tambin est presente en el sentido

de que eran emplazamientos remotos y escondidos, sin

contacto alguno con la vida cotidiana. Querais desvelar

las debilidades del mito o derribarlo?

JW: Al principio, sentamos una gran curiosidad por

[Star City] porque se la describa como arquitectura para

el futuro, un campo de entrenamiento para la gente del

futuro. Exista una cierta visin utpica, pero en el fondo

tambin se trataba de un programa de entrenamiento

altamente especializado e increblemente centrado en

su funcin, con todos esos diferentes edificios dentro

de los que se experimentaba con diversos entornos

y condiciones. Todos los edificios tenan un diseo

ultravanguardista para su poca, en su momento fueron

los centros de progreso cientfico ms avanzados del

mundo. Pero, por supuesto, al visitarlos hoy en da, la

sensacin que transmiten es de decadencia, resultan

anticuados.

MH: Pero, todava se percibe la sensacin de

idealismo?

JW: S, a travs de la gente. Cuando estbamos

deambulando por ah, tomando fotografas, nuestro gua

nos deca cosas como: Por qu miris las telas de

araa? No queremos que os fijis en las telas de araa.

Por qu no os fijis en el progreso? Por supuesto, el

polvo y las huellas de las actividades del pasado tambin

forman parte de la realidad del lugar, como los secretos, y

tambin queramos filmar esos aspectos.

tt j wMary Horlock


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taken in a recently re-fitted microchip manufacturing plant

a very high-tech space that offers a more contemporary

view of technology and the future. Were you trying to findthe sharpest contrast?

LW: The factory we looked at was originally owned by

Siemens, it was a very important manufacturing plant in

the North-East, but closed after the Asian economic crisis

in the early 1990s. It was at this point that Atmel - an

American corporation - took over and diversified it. People

were of course relieved to still have jobs. There is no elitism

or sense of privilege, it is functioning and functional andthat is enough.

MH: So do you look between these different bodies of

work and see it as a study of how ideals have been lost

or overtaken? Star City and the Cosmodrome come out of

an idealism which is no longer possible, whereas the Atmel

images are about globalisation, market forces.

LW: and survival. We realized how, when the Soviet

space programme was at its height, religion was repressed

and there was this gap for ideology and the space

programme filled it they had this joke, Lenin was God

and Yuri Gagarin was Christ of course it was a joke but

it was a deeply imbedded national belief.

JW: But as a utopian ideal of the future it is so removed,

specific and elitist. I mean yes, we should travel in space,

but that is a privileged experiment, and it now seems so

archaic. Atmel is an everyday, maybe quite banal, reality.

But it provides the technology that we use daily, and so

it is closer to us and much more tangible than the Spaceprogramme.

MH: I suppose we could still make the connection to

travel though, now we have virtual travel enabled by a

microchip.

LW: But in Russia, you might have been able to go into

space but you were not really free. I mean you could not

travel from East to West Berlin, and this is something we

felt conscious of right from when we made Stasi City in

1999.

MH: Lets talk about this human dimension because

although you might not include people in your still images

you have always picked up on human traces, so we get

a sense of the people who might have inhabited each

space, like with the photograph Skarfaundry(2000) where

we see lifeless spacesuits lying in what could be bunk

beds, but they are just storage cases.

LW: But I think it can be more subtle than that, if

you look at the image of the changing room from the

hydrolaboratorium, where there is a small tree in the corner

and a curtain, you see how people have tried to humanize

their environment even in this huge high-tech facility. There

was a real importance placed on bringing in elements of

nature, you know, potted plants and things like that, as if

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LW: Siguen teniendo una inmensa sensacin de orgullo,

y es que si trabajabas en Star City, efectivamente formabas

parte de una lite. Nuestro gua era un antiguo miembrode la KGB que segua pensando de la misma manera, as

que, aunque los interiores estuvieran vinindose abajo, l

deca oh, es que lo estamos renovando, pero estaba

claro que no era verdad.

MH: Estas imgenes representan una idea del futuro

de nuestro reciente pasado, pero tambin son una

poderosa contraposicin a las otras fotografas que estis

exponiendo, imgenes que se tomaron en una planta defabricacin de microchips recientemente reformada, un

espacio de alta tecnologa que ofrece una visin ms

contempornea de la tecnologa y del futuro. Estabais

tratando de buscar el contraste ms acentuado?

LW: La fbrica que visitamos perteneca originalmente a

Siemens, era una planta de fabricacin muy importante

en el Noreste, pero cerr despus de la crisis econmica

asitica de principios de los aos 90. Fue en ese momentocuando Atmel una corporacin estadounidense se hizo

con el poder de la empresa y la diversific. Por supuesto,

los trabajadores se sintieron aliviados al conservar su

trabajo. All no hay elitismo o sensacin de privilegio, est

funcionando y es funcional y eso es suficiente.

MH: Entonces, al mirar estas diferentes series de trabajo,

las veis como un estudio de cmo los ideales se han ido

perdiendo o quedando atrs? Star City y el Cosmdromo

surgieron de un idealismo que ya no es posible, mientras

que las imgenes de Atmel representan la globalizacin,las fuerzas del mercado

LW: y la supervivencia. Nos dimos cuenta de que,

cuando el programa espacial sovitico estaba en pleno

auge, la religin era reprimida y exista un vaco ideolgico

que el programa espacial vino a cubrir tenan un chiste,

Lenin era Dios y Yuri Gagarin era Cristo desde luego,

era un chiste, pero reflejaba una creencia nacional muy

enraizada.

JW: Sin embargo, como ideal utpico del futuro, es

tan remoto, especfico y elitista. Quiero decir que, claro,

tenemos que hacer viajes espaciales, pero se trata de

un experimento privilegiado, y ahora parece tan arcaico.

Atmel es una realidad cotidiana, tal vez completamente

banal. Pero nos proporciona la tecnologa que usamos a

diario y por eso est ms cerca de nosotros y es mucho

ms tangible que el programa espacial.

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to remind you of the earth.

MH: And the Atmel images dont have this - people have

no place - was this something you thought about?

LW: Atmel is about mass automation and as a purpose-

built architectural space it is a phenomenon in its own

terms. The people at Atmel did try to humanise the space,

though. There was this very personal sense of identification

with the fabric of the building.

JW: We were surprised to see the human presence

so far removed from the manufacturing and production.They seem to have done away with the human to achieve

perfection. But it was interesting how they had names

for everything: there was the ballroom which had all

these incredibly bright fluorescent lights, for example and

then youd go down the basement which theyd call the

yellow brick road because the was miles of cabling and

miles of piping, and then they had Fab Units which were

fabrication units.

You also have to think how, on the reverse side, in the

previous work from Baikonour there is a sense that the

humans are being trained to be machines, to become

a piece of equipment. They are trained to be utterly

efficient and functional. Space travel is a romantic idea but

there is this tough, hard-edged reality about it, it is very

mechanical.

MH: I think the Atmel images are a departure in that they

are perhaps more formal, though. I wonder if this comes

from the location itself - this contained, highly ordered

world of mass production. In the past your work hasexplored spaces with more of a sense of history, Atmel

does not have this. Also, whereas before you sought out

strange, secret and unfamiliar locations, Atmel is a more

mundane reality on our/your doorstep. Would you agree?

LW: I think we are drawn to unfamiliar spaces. We

consciously look for these kinds of places and then we

have to get to know them, familiarize ourselves with them.

But all the time we have to keep a certain distance, so thatthey remain slightly foreign or alien.

JW: Years ago we would always photograph the places

near to where we lived: hotel rooms, bed and breakfasts,

our flat, etc. But inevitably a shift occurred, where we

wanted to push ourselves and find new challenges and

so we started to explore more complex and maybe more

troubling spaces. We are drawn to the kind of architecture

that has a distinct conceptual framework around it, thathas some myth or ideology attached to it, that has a

resonance that is sometimes bigger than its reality. And we

want to decipher and communicate what that reality is.

Atmel is a very high-tech environment but technology will

always be advancing, we work with technology and film

so this idea and interest interlinks you follow the great

developments that are being made, Atmel represents this

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MH: No obstante, supongo que an as podemos

establecer la conexin con el viaje, ahora que podemos

realizar viajes virtuales mediante un microchip.

LW: Pero en Rusia, podas ser capaz de ir al espacio,

pero sin ser realmente libre. Quiero decir que no podas

viajar de Berln Este a Berln Oeste y eso es algo de lo que

nos dimos cuenta justo despus de hacer Stasi Cityen

1999.

MH: Hablemos de esa dimensin humana porque,

aunque no siempre incluyis personas en vuestras

fotografas, siempre os habis interesado por los rasgoshumanos, de modo que en vuestras imgenes percibimos

a la gente que podra haber habitado en ese espacio,

como en la fotografa Skarfaundry (2000), donde vemos

unos trajes espaciales sin vida tendidos en lo que podran

ser unas literas, pero que slo son estantes.

LW: Yo creo que puede ser ms sutil an, si observas la

imagen del vestuario del hidrolaboratorio, donde aparece

un arbolito en la esquina y una cortina, se ve cmo laspersonas han intentado humanizar su entorno en esas

inmensas instalaciones de alta tecnologa. Se daba una

gran importancia a incorporar elementos de la naturaleza,

o sea, tiestos y cosas por el estilo, como si quisieran que

les recordaran a la tierra.

MH: Y las imgenes de Atmel no tienen eso las

personas no tienen sitio all, es esa una reflexin que os

planteasteis?

LW: Atmel trata de la automatizacin masiva y como

espacio arquitectnico esencialmente funcional es un

fenmeno en s mismo. Pero el personal de Atmel s queintent humanizar el espacio. Exista un sentimiento muy

personal de identificacin con el tejido del edificio.

JW: Nos sorprendi ver la presencia humana tan

distanciada de la fabricacin y la produccin. Parecen

haber prescindido de lo humano para conseguir la

perfeccin. Pero fue interesante ver que le haban puesto

nombres a todo: estaba la sala de baile, que tena

unas luces fluorescentes increblemente brillantes, porejemplo, y luego bajabas al stano, que ellos llamaban el

camino de baldosas amarillas porque haba kilmetros

y kilmetros de cables y tuberas, y luego estaban las

unidades fab fab es abreviatura de fabuloso, que eran

las unidades de fabricacin...

Tambin tienes que recordar cmo, por otro lado,

en la obra anterior de Baikonur hay una sensacin

de que los seres humanos estn siendo entrenadospara ser mquinas, para convertirse en una pieza del

equipo. Estn siendo entrenados para ser absolutamente

eficientes y funcionales. Los viajes espaciales son una

idea romntica, pero les envuelve una realidad difcil, dura,

muy mecnica.

MH: Sin embargo, creo que las imgenes de Atmel

suponen un cambio por el hecho de que quiz sean

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and it is ironic that it was right on our doorstep, near where

we grew up.

MH: Looking at these two bodies of work, there are of

course a lot of connections, it is about how buildings hold

power, what they signify. Is that why you chose to bring the

work together for this show?

JW: What we have begun to do now is very different from

what we have done in the past: combining sites, pulling

together different spaces, and so seeing how certain

sensibilities are not confined to one space. Even with the

Russian work though - linking Star City with Baikonour

Cosmodrome - no-one has made that link before We

are not just being faithful to the spaces but we are also

seeing the relationshipsIt has been really interesting for

us to bring these seemingly diverse works together. We

can take an overview on it and step back, and then it is

surprising what you discover.

LW: And as often as you see the connections yousee the contrasts: to launch a rocket into space is a

mechanical procedure, it is physical (and quite brutal)..

it is tangibleWhereas at Atmel the processes and

mechanisms are much more abstracted. Jane has talked

about Atmel which seemed to represent something more

real but of course so much of what goes on there is

invisible, and indeed virtual.

MH: Did you want to bring out how Atmel is this abstract

space? we could be anywhere in the world, and we

cannot tell what is being made here, what it is about.

JW: But that is also down to the way we photograph

places. They are not signature shots of the space, that

would be too documentary, we look a lot at periphery

spaces, it makes it more of a three-dimensional encounter.

To capture the essence of a buildings own phenomenon

you often have to look at the inconsequential, the

periphery.

LW: It is also to do with how a photograph is taken,

how it situates the body within the frame. We play around

with the cropping and we might shift the perspective,

and this might make a simple view down a corridor more

disorientating. We are re-framing how you position yourself.

Nothing is digitally manipulated but we might rotate and flip

an image to one side and thus make it more artificial.

MH: And you exploit the existing reflective surfaces so

there is this warping of space, creating a play of images.

For example in Safe Light: Divided Ballroom (2003) whatappear to be split screens are in fact mirror images of the

same chamber of machinery. You want to disorientate the

viewer.

JW: I think there is a slippage and we get very excited

about that. Your natural impulse is to situate yourself

within it, especially as the images are big and hung low

to the ground. You feel you should have a clear physical

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ms formales. Me pregunto si eso se deriva de la propia

localizacin, de ese mundo cerrado, altamente organizado,

de la produccin en masa. En el pasado, vuestra obra haexplorado espacios con un significado ms histrico, que

Atmel no tiene. Tambin, mientras que antes buscabais

localizaciones extraas, secretas, poco familiares, Atmel

es una realidad mucho ms prosaica que est a la vuelta

de la esquina. Estis de acuerdo?

LW: Creo que nos sentimos atradas por los espacios

poco familiares. Buscamos conscientemente ese tipo de

lugares y luego sentimos la necesidad de conocerlos, defamiliarizarnos con ellos. Pero tenemos que mantener en

todo momento una cierta distancia, de modo que sigan

siendo ligeramente ajenos, lejanos.

JW: Hace aos siempre fotografibamos lugares que

estaban cerca de donde vivamos: habitaciones de hotel,

pensiones, nuestro piso, etc. Pero, inevitablemente, se

produjo un cambio, queramos probar nuestras fuerzas y

encontrar nuevos desafos, as que empezamos a explorarespacios ms complejos y tal vez ms inquietantes. Nos

sentimos atradas hacia un tipo de arquitectura envuelta

en un claro marco conceptual, rodeada de algn mito o

ideologa, que tiene una resonancia que a veces es ms

grande que su propia realidad. Y queremos descifrar y

comunicar lo que es esa realidad.

Atmel es un entorno de alta tecnologa, pero la tecnologa

siempre seguir avanzando, nosotras trabajamos con la

tecnologa y el cine, as que esa idea y ese inters estn

interrelacionados vas siguiendo los grandes progresosque se hacen, Atmel representa ese progreso y es irnico

que estuviera justo a la vuelta de la esquina de donde

crecimos.

MH: Si observamos esos dos cuerpos de obra, hay

desde luego numerosas conexiones, trata de cmo los

edificios encierran poder, de lo que significan. Por eso

elegisteis reunir estas obras para la exposicin?

JW: Lo que hemos empezado a hacer ahora es muy

diferente de lo que habamos hecho en el pasado:

combinar escenarios, reunir espacios diferentes y as

ver cmo ciertas sensibilidades no se limitan a un solo

espacio. Incluso en la obra de Rusia unir Star City con

el Cosmdromo de Baikonur nadie ha establecido antes

ese vnculo No estamos simplemente siendo fieles a los

espacios, sino que tambin estudiamos las relacionesHa sido muy interesante para nosotras reunir estas

obras, en apariencia tan diferentes. Podemos tener una

visin general y luego dar un paso atrs y entonces es

sorprendente lo que descubres.

LW: Y se ven tantas conexiones como se ven contrastes:

lanzar un cohete al espacio es un procedimiento mecnico,

es fsico (y bastante brutal)... es tangible mientras que

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relationship to them but you cant.

MH: Although they are not represented in this exhibition,

you make multi screen film installations of the sites you

have explored, such as Star CityandProton, Unity, Energy,

BlizzardAnd I presume that the photographs you have

taken at Atmel will relate to your forthcoming installation at

the Baltic. How do the still images relate to the film? Are

they props? Are they the images with which you construct

the films narrative, like building a story board?

LW: I think it is something apart - when you engage with

the space through a view finder, looking at every angle

and composing a still image. It is about the simple act

of looking. This is a very different encounter from filming

where there is always the question of movement and

duration. I think the stills are an important element as they

are often cues for the filmed sequences. Nearly all of the

photographs are made prior to the filming.

MH: So are the photographs as important as the film?

LW: Well they are usually the sites that we go back to

time and again, the ones we cannot leave alone.

MH: Like picking at a scab

LW: precisely!

MH: So you go back to these all places several times,

lets talk about how you build your own relationship with

each space

LW: We go back, engage, see how things change.

there is kind of an emotional investment. Also, I know

this sounds strange and I dont want to overstate it, but

you could say it is a bit like method-acting within an

architectural space. I think we do adopt roles.

MH: Do you think this approach might be informed by

gender?

JW: Well, we certainly do not set out to colonise the

space, and we arent going for the main event withthese photos, we identify specific moments or incidents,

but consciously avoid the obvious. Looking at those in-

between spaces. I always get really interested and excited

at those moments when I am in a space and the reason

why I was there is suddenly unimportant, or rather it has

been eclipsed or overtaken by something else.

LW: It is that moment of collapse.

JW: Yes, and it can be a moment of clarity

MH: So when you go in to these spaces, how many

photographs do you take and how many of these

photographs will then become works? In other words, how

often does the image in your minds eye translate into a

material reality?

LW: There are so few images that become works, in the

end we only have say 6 or 8 images


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en Atmel los procesos y los mecanismos son mucho

ms abstractos. Jane ha hablado de Atmel, que pareca

representar algo ms real pero, por supuesto, mucho delo que sucede all es invisible, y desde luego, virtual.

MH: Querais mostrar a Atmel como espacio abstracto?

podramos estar en cualquier parte del mundo, y no

podemos decir qu se est fabricando all, qu tipo de

sitio es.

JW: Pero eso se debe tambin a la manera en la

que fotografiamos los espacios. No son fotografasemblemticas, eso sera excesivamente documental, nos

fijamos mucho en los espacios perifricos, lo que convierte

la obra en un encuentro mucho ms tridimensional. Para

captar la esencia del propio fenmeno de un edificio,

tienes que observar lo intrascendente, la periferia.

LW: Tambin tiene que ver con cmo se hace la

fotografa, cmo se sita el cuerpo dentro de la fotografa.

Nos gusta jugar con el encuadre y podemos cambiar la

perspectiva y con eso una simple imagen de un pasillo

puede resultar ms desorientadora. Estamos replanteando

el modo en que uno se sita. Nada est manipulado

digitalmente, pero podemos girar y mover la imagen hacia

un lado y hacerla as ms artificial.

MH: Y aprovechis las superficies reflectantes para

crear una especie de desfase en el espacio, un juego de

imgenes. Por ejemplo, en Safe Light: Divided Ballroom

(2003), lo que parecen ser pantallas divididas, son en

realidad imgenes especulares de la misma sala de

mquinas. Queris desorientar al espectador.

JW: Creo que hay una especie de discontinuidad y

eso nos encanta. Tu impulso natural es situarte ah,

especialmente porque las imgenes son grandes y estn

colgadas a muy poca distancia del suelo. Te parece que

deberas tener una relacin fsica clara con ellas, pero no

puedes.

MH:Aunque no aparecen en esta exposicin, hacis

instalaciones con pantallas mltiples de esas escenas que

habis explorado, como Star CityyProton, Unity, Energy,

BlizzardY supongo que las fotografas que habis tomado

en Atmel tendrn relacin con la prxima instalacin que

expongis en el Baltic. Cmo se relacionan las imgenes

fijas con las pelculas? Sirven como atrezzo? Son las

imgenes a partir de las que construs la narrativa de la

pelcula, como componiendo un story board?

LW: Creo que se trata de dos cosas diferentes: cuando

te implicas con el espacio a travs de un visor, mirando

desde todos los ngulos y componiendo una imagen

fija, se trata del simple acto de mirar. Es un encuentro

visual muy diferente de la filmacin donde siempre existe

la cuestin del movimiento y la duracin. Creo que las

fotografas son un elemento importante porque, a menudo,

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JW: and we might use 20 to 24 rolls of film. We go

out, react to the space, but then we have to step back

and gather information and then revisit, and work outstructures, templates.

MH: The documentary aesthetic now seems so popular

in contemporary art and more artists are turning to film and

video. What keeps your practice so distinct and different

from this?

LW: I think our work, although informed by documentary,

is different. The architectural and sculptural concerns that

determine how we edit film, use sound and finally install

each work takes it away from such a recognizable format.

JW: I feel documentary can be revealing and descriptive

but it is notan artistic endeavour in the same terms. For

me, there has to be a surprise or transformation, you know,

this idea of the punctum - when you look at something

and you realise that you are looking at it in a completely

different way, in a new way. These are the moments that

sustain me.presences

Mary HorlockCurator of contemporary art at Tate Britain,

London


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todas las fotografas se han tomado antes de hacer la

pelcula.

MH: Entonces, las fotografas son tan importantes como

la pelcula?

LW: Bueno, suelen ser los escenarios a los que volvemos

una y otra vez, esos escenarios de los que no podemos

olvidarnos.

MH: Como andarse en una postilla

LW: Exacto!

MH: As que volvis a esos lugares varias veces...

hablemos entonces de vuestra relacin con cada

espacio

LW: Volvemos all, nos implicamos, vemos cmo las

cosas cambian hay una especie de inversin emocional.

Adems, s que suena extrao y no quiero darle una

importancia excesiva, pero se podra decir que es unpoco como si furamos actrices del mtodo dentro

de un espacio arquitectnico. Creo que adoptamos

papeles.

MH: Creis que ese enfoque puede estar marcado por

el gnero?

JW: Bueno, desde luego no pretendemos conquistar el

espacio y no buscamos el acontecimiento principal con

estas fotografas, identificamos momentos o incidentes

especficos, pero evitamos lo obvio de forma consciente.Dirigiendo la mirada hacia esos espacios intermedios.

Siempre me han interesado y me siento emocionada

en esos momentos en los que estoy en un espacio y,

de pronto, la razn por la que estoy all no tiene ninguna

importancia o ms bien ha sido eclipsada o sustituida

wilson catalog def

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