Sebastian Utzni
“Have you ever reflected on everything contained in the term flanerie,1 this most enchanting word which is revered by the poets…? Going on infinite investigations through the streets and promenades; drifting along, with your nose in the wind, with both hands in your pockets, and with an umbrella under your arm, as befits any open-minded spirit; walking along, with serendipity, without pondering where to and without urging to hurry… stopping in front of stores to regard their images, at street corners to read their signs, by the bouquinistes2 stands to touch their old books… giving yourself over, captivated and enraptured, with all your senses and all your mind, to the spectacle.” Sebastian Utzni’s detached observations and street photography are a modern extension of the urban observer described by the nineteenth century journalist Victor Fournel before the advent of the hand-held camera. Utzni’s photographic work is something “… that preserves the least traces, and on which are reproduced, with their changing reflections, the course of things…”.3 Incorporating photography within installation and book format structures, he explores the space between image, place and text and how the interpretation of imagery shifts according to changes in time, location and context.
being both someone who tells stories (with words and images) and someone who finds stories and pictures
“I consider myself a collector. To me, this means being both someone who tells stories (with words and images) and someone who finds stories and pictures. Both are connected. Something found acquires new meaning by passing through my hands, or through those of the observer, and thus something new, something to be told, comes into being all over again. In so doing, I depend to a certain extent, on coincidence; for example, of things I find and observe while walking. From this slow wandering, as a flâneur, the photographic series Benches has evolved.”4 Based on the philosophical idea of the inside and outside, the insight and outlook, this series of paired photographs shows a bench with the corresponding view. The spectator’s field of vision becomes that of the imagined observer sitting on the bench. The captured view from the bench, a seemingly arbitrary snapshot of space and time, is nevertheless very much determined as it is at just this spot that the bench has been consciously placed. At times, the reasoning behind the bench’s location is obvious – somewhere to rest half way up a hill, or a spectacular view, but often it remains ambiguous why that particular spot has been chosen. Perhaps, when the bench was installed, the bench afforded a beautiful vista since obscured by a hedge…
Cour des Miracles5 is also concerned with how the interpretation of images alters according to shifts in space and information. The work consists of a series of photographs of particular places which have become significant or meaningful through outside influences – sometimes important, sometimes unimportant, sometimes the meanings are true and sometimes a myth or superstition has developed concerning the place. Bland photographs representing these locations only acquire meaning through their accompanying texts. Therefore, not only space and time are questioned, but also the observer’s trust in image and text as a medium for carrying information. The observer only grasps the meaning by actively interpreting the space between text and picture. In effect, the meaning of Cour de Miracles is generated by the proactive interpretation of the viewer; the meaning sits in the imaginative space between text and image. “The photographer is an armed version of the solitary walker reconnoitring, stalking, cruising the urban inferno, the voyeuristic stroller who discovers the city as a landscape of voluptuous extremes. Adept of the joys of watching, connoisseur of empathy, the flâneur finds the world picturesque.“6
Sebastian Utzni
这个系列的哲学涵义是内在和外在，洞察和前瞻， 一系列成对的照片展现了一张长椅和相应的景观。 观众的视野也就是想象中坐在长椅上那个人的视 野。从长椅上看到的景物，看似不确定，实则是确 定的，因为这个地方就是长椅刻意放置的地方。有 时候，对长椅位置的推理很明显——半山小憩的地 方，或是绝佳观景点，不过也有不很清楚为什么把 长椅放那儿的时候。又或许，长椅在安装的时候， 它本身就是风光被树篱阻断之后的新景致。。。 作品“奇迹之殿”也有类似的考量：画面的理解视 乎空间和信息的改变。 作品收纳了一系列特定地 点的照片，这些地点都因为外部的影响变得不一 般——有时重要，有时不重要，有时意义明确，有 时则荒诞不稽。这些平淡的反映地点的照片只有在 附上文字时才变的有意义。因此，不仅空间和时间 被质疑，观众对图片和文字作为信息载体的信任也 被质疑。观众只有主动去填充文字和画面之间的空 隙才能领会照片的涵义。这样，“奇迹之殿”的涵 义是产生于观众的主动理解中的，涵义存在于文字 和画面之间，存在于想象的空间里。 “摄影师是有装备的独行者，他侦察，潜近，然后 巡视这个都市炼狱，窥探之后发现都市是个极尽逸 乐之处。漫步者享受着观察愉悦，感情投入地赏析 着，他发现这个世界“风景如画”。”
“你曾经思考过“flanerie（漫步）”这个词所包 含的一切吗，这个诗人们最推崇的词？穿越大街小 巷，徜徉着去探寻；慢慢地走，鼻子感觉清风，双 手插在口袋，雨伞夹在腋下，心灵得到释放；慢慢 地走，期待着偶遇，不想着去哪儿，不带着匆忙。 。。在店家门口欣赏它们的图画，在街角看看那儿 的路牌，在二手书店轻抚那些旧书。。。让自己停 下来，开放所有的感官和思想，去欣赏这些风景。” Sebastian Utzni的超然观察和街头摄影，是19世纪时 期记者Victor Fourel在手持照相机发明前对都市观察 者的定义，在现代的延伸。 Utzni的摄影作品“几乎不留痕迹，它们被复制，反 映的东西在变化，经历在变化。。。”他充分利用 了画面，地点和文字之间的空隙，将摄影作品融入 到展出装置和图书版式中去，对画面的理解则视乎 时间，地点和环境的改变。 “我觉得自己是一个“收集者”。于我而言，这意 味着我既是讲故事的人（图文并茂）又是发现故事 和图片的人。两者是联系在一起的。找到的新东西 需要通过 我 或 者 其 他 观 察者 赋 予 它 新 的 涵 义 ， 这 样，新的东西，新的故事，又重新开始。 我这样做 其实很大程度是要碰运气的，比如说，我走着的时 候找到的看到的东西。这样慢慢的逛，漫步者似的 逛，就有了这个摄影作品系列，“长椅”。”
洞察和前瞻，一系列成对的照片 展现了一张长椅和相应的景观。 观众的视野也就是想象中坐在长 椅上那个人的视野。从长椅上看 到的景物，看似不确定
Sebastian Utzni
Here goes the blabla for the left image, 345x567mm, Photoprint, 1902 Here the one for the right image, 345x567mm, Photoprint, 1901 不过也有不很清楚为什么把长椅放那儿的时候。 涵义存在于文字和画面之间，存在于想象的空间里。 Sebastian Utzni born in Augsbrooklyn / Germany, 26, lives and works in Zürich / Switzerland 不过也有不很清楚为什么把长椅放那儿的时候。