OLAF BREUNING

TOO MANY PICTURES

In 2014 I was invited to teach for one week at the Ecal Art University in Lausanne. As usual, I only agree to do it if I can produce a new artwork of mine with the students. Assuming they can learn something being a part of one of my productions. Mostly it’s fun, and the students are good sports. Already eight years ago, I was concerned about the number of images we confront daily. We are now in 2021, and it does not seem to slow down, the opposite, it gets even more overwhelming. The idea for the photograph “Too Many Pictures” was simple: people are covered with images – practically buried under the avalanche of pictures. I think this is something I am still trying to understand how my relationship to reality has changed within the last 15 years. And, of course, not only mine, all of ours. We see the world differently through the explosion of different media outputs, the dominance of social media, and immediate access to information. Good or bad, just different. And as it often appears, we can only understand something when it’s nearly over. However, this photograph should symbolize a moment in time. That is what most of my artworks do, witnessing my stumbling through time.

Too Many Pictures, 2014, C-Print, 6 Ed. + 2 AP: 122 x 155 cm (48 x 61 in.)