When I first came to Brussels two years ago I stayed at Christoph’s place. But we only met the last day I was here. This time it’s different. Since I moved to Brussels in June he is the one I spent the most time with. But not until this week we met to talk about his art. I only new very few of his works. Having seen a bit more at last turns me into an admirer.

Christoph transforms locations into stages. The sites he films are architecturally spectacular. But the architecture sometimes dissolves in a high contrast of light and shadow. In „The Ground Is Moving (2010)“ people appear from the dark and disappear into it. „Like shadows of souls“ says Christoph. It seems as if the gates to a parallel universe opened and everyone who ever wandered on earth reappeared. The protagonists seem self-absorbed and some apparently perform senseless actions. But isn’t this happening to all of us? We believe that our actions make sense, but we stop functioning arbitrarily, fall out of our roles and loose our footing. The ground that we built and so much believe to carry us, moves.

I invited Christoph to show „Monsieur René“ in Vitrine 5 during my residency. Here the camera moves through the apartment of a hoarder. Piles and piles and piles of things. But Christoph doesn’t take a documentary point of view. He rather invites us on a journey through a fictional life, accumulated things and cumulated time.
Magical!

Christoph Oertli: http://www.christophoertli.ch/