Ingo Schrader, Tor Nord, 2015. Installation view at Palazzo Mora, 2016.

Space: Reflections
In the end, architecture is about space. All its functionality, impact on the surroundings and meaning come from its interaction with space.
Space is invisible, immaterial and, even more complicated: space and time are one – as scientists tell us.
As light is invisible too, and we can only perceive it when being reflected by solid matter, space can be articulated by the modulation and distance of its enclosures, of solids arranged or treated in a special way. The calibration of measures, distances and proportions can make space resonate.Resonance and reason, how to make it sound (right).
Modulations of surfaces reflect back into the void matter of space. They may also be seen as traces of invisible forces on the material - reflections of space on matter. Traces of our body in space, traces of our life, traces in time.
Transformation is a sign of life, our bodies move through the fluidity of time and our surroundings, are we cavities in space? Is the body a counterpart to the invisible matter? Or a space within a space?
We are playing, touching the invisible, being touched and perceiving space with the entire body and all our senses. Reflections of ourselves make us aware of our existence. Reflections on surfaces tell about space. When does the two-dimensional fall into the third dimension? What is happening at the limit between the dimensions, if there is one?
The flow and velocity of the void, the atmosphere, the gradation of densities, the rhythm of interventions, the quality of surfaces and materials let us orchestrate space or just play with it.
Architecture and art in such way become extensions of our body, instruments of perception on multiple levels and certainly meaningful extensions of our mind, reaching out to understand the reality of our existence.
His contribution to the exhibition displays Ingo Schrader’s research on spatial phenomena showing three recent buildings and confronting them with selected works of art.
The works are shown in a seemingly conventional way as regularly arranged framed black and white photographs. A closer look reveals, that the frames are placed on a mirrored surface, so that the exhibition space is being reflected in the gaps between them and also in the glazed frames themselves.
In this way, an amazing experimental set-up on the mystery of space unfolds: the exhibition room with its colourful reality, visitors and their movements is being virtually extended. Its mirrored image and the photos of architectural spaces and artwork blend into one oscillating visual plane.
The real space, sounds, movements, temperature and smells are on one side of the mirror. The frames seem to float in the air, providing the view through the gaps between them into the mirrored counterpart of the exhibition room. At the same time, the frames obstruct the way to the space behind the mirror.
The photographs, the mirrored space and the “real” situation in front of the mirror become gradations of spatial intensity, unfolding the dimensions of time, space and existence in a subtle way.
Glass and mirrors, the playful reflections, architectonic picture puzzles and spatial illusions are also explicit references to Venice and its unique cultural identity.