Impact7

Michael Wegerer

Country

Affliliation

Biography

Michael Wegerer was born in Austria and studied there, first in Electronic Engineering and subsequently in Art and Design, graduating in 2008. From 2009 he was undertaking a postgraduate course in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art in London. He has exhibited widely in Europe and internationally and has been awarded a number of prizes. In the summer of 2009 he was Artist in Residence at RMIT University in Melbourne - Australia.

Paper

The Matter of Change as part of the panel discussion: On the Periphery of Things- defining the ‘Edges’ of contemporary print practice from the North to the South

Abstract

Printmaking can be seen as process which reconstitutes the edges of historical concepts and intermingles with contemporary art practice by creating a narrative and generating new sights. This statement assumes an interpretation of the term 'transformation' and considers this gesture as printmaking process reflecting the notion of touch. Walter Benjamin described 'the magic of touch' in his famous essay 'the task of the translator' ' as a process of translation. In this light the interpretation of 'the media is the message' could probably mutate into 'the form of translation becomes the message'.
Mediating images, new technical inventions, or even the interpretation of communication are concepts which are historically familiar with the function of prints. Now a renewed perspective separates disciplines and reconstitutes new relationships around the edges. The notion of touch bridges gaps between the 'old' and the 'new' and widens the gate of open possibilities within contemporary printmaking practice. 
To look at these processes of transformation in detail, I would like to introduce the work DESERT-BUS-STOP, which started to develop in Alice Springs 2009 as a sort of participatory public intervention. A conscious use of materials, forms and techniques are essential elements for the meaning of the work. The printmaking process enables to proceed in a chain of solutions. The 'new' use of old technology for example screen-print, by exposing a 3-dimentional object onto a flat surface so that it becomes a packing paper object, suggests that 'something' essential will be delivered.

Date

Wednesday 28 September

Session

1:30pm - 3.00pm

Speaking

2:00pm

Email

michael.wegerer@network.rca.ac.uk; mike.wegerer@aon.at

Website

www.mikewegerer.com