Michael Fliri
Stargazer (Self-portrait)
2020
Photography
Courtesy Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano

THE BLANK CONTEMPORARY ART
99 WORDS WITH MICHAEL FLIRI

– I quickly held out my hand to him: “Done! it’s a deal, you have my shadow for the purse.” He shook my hand, knelt down in front of me without delay, and I beheld him, with admirable dexterity, gently free my shadow, from the head down to the feet, from the grass, lift it up, roll it together, fold it, and finally tuck it into his pocket –

The Wonderful History of Peter Schlemihl, Adelbert von Chamisso (1813)

Let’s reverse this novel. The self-portrait is extracted from the pocket like a haptic sculpture, detaching a transparent surface from it and, with “alchemical” interventions, it reaches a gradual dematerialization to finally manifest itself as an ephemeral image of light/shadow.

By analogical means “Stargazer (Self-portrait)” finds a speculative visual language that appears digital.