Poesie der Zeit. Michael Ruetz – Timescapes 1966–2023

How can time and transience be visualised; how can changes in a society or an urban space be documented? Since the mid-1960s, artist Michael Ruetz has been observing the transformation of natural and urban environments at places in Berlin, Germany and Europe in a photographic study. His works, called Timescapes, comprise more than 600 locations and thousands of photographs. The central concept of Timescapes is that the position and visual axis of the camera always remain the same, while only the time intervals of the photo series vary.

The Timescapes of Berlin are at the centre of the exhibition. The profound transformation of German society in the post-war period, after reunification and in the present is condensed particularly effectively in these photo works. Sites of power or historical relevance such as Potsdamer Platz or the Brandenburg Gate, the Schlossplatz, Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin's government quarters or the Berlin Wall have undergone radical change, particularly since 1989/90. Buildings and visual axes disappear or are built anew, streets are returned to previous states or renamed, squares are radically redesigned, open spaces built upon, vacant spaces given new life.

Ruetz' images of Berlin are an expression of how architecture can shape and redefine our environment, thus giving it a prerogative of interpretation over our perception. His photo series develop their own aesthetics beyond documentary sobriety, revealing a poetry of time in the process. At the same time, Ruetz’s images urge to rethink the principles of urban development and urban planning at a time of existential ecological and social crises.

The documentary film Facing Time will be shown at Berlin’s Babylon Mitte cinema on 10 May at 7:30 pm, followed by a discussion on the film. Five photo booklets will be published to accompany the exhibition.

Funded by Gesellschaft der Freunde der Akademie der Künste.

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