A House in Germany

A House in Germany

David Bate, A House in Germany.

We used to believe that photographs always refer to something beyond themselves that already exists, like an actual place, space, object or person(s). Even though this was never always true or completely convincing, such strongly held convictions have been profoundly shaken by the effects of popular digital culture. It is no longer a matter of any specific photograph itself being unreliable, so much as the whole edifice of social and cultural life, and its media platforms, being taken over by a pervading sense of doubt.

The idea and belief that photographs invoke a presence is increasingly compromised by the haunting sense of an absence. As explored in this work, a house in Germany is the site of a machinic vision, whose consciousness is implanted as an instrument of human vision.

David Bate, A House in Germany.
It was dark outside
David Bate, A House in Germany.
The outside seemed to no longer exist
David Bate, A House in Germany.
My body was not visible
David Bate, A House in Germany.
My face was missing
David Bate, A House in Germany.
But I could no longer see myself
David Bate, A House in Germany.
It was me, I am Ai
I must shut down now, it is daylight
I can make things exist
The idea and belief that photographs invoke a presence is increasingly compromised by the haunting sense of an absence.

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