Karl Wratschko - Notes on Perception and Fluidity

Notes on Perception and Fluidity

The group of works Notes on Perception and Fluidity (2025) consists of four works, all of which were created during a residency in Cairo. On the one hand, the photographic and object works revolve around the question of what we perceive as ‘foreign’ and how we position ourselves in relation to it. On the other hand, they deal with the state of fluidity that is always inherent in individual and collective perception. A quote from the early scholastic Hugo of Saint Victor, found in Edward Said's book Orientalism, complements the photographic works created in Cairo. One of the two object works is an artistic examination and postcolonial interrogation of the works of Austrian postcard manufacturer Joseph Max Lichtenstern, who worked in Cairo from 1893 onwards. Here, too, the focus is on a critical reflection of our view of the ‘other’. Another work uses an analogue film reel to explore the fluidity of technical recording devices and can be read in direct relation to the current state of filmmaking in Egypt – in archival, political and economic terms. All of the works critically question our perception, which requires constant reinterpretation and re-evaluation and can never be regarded as a fixed state. This is particularly true with regard to our perception of the ‘other,’ which continuously reflects power relations.

Foto: Universalmuseum Joanneum / N. Lackner