Thomas Jorion
Blizka, from the series "Silencio"
2011
Series Statement
This building was opened in 1981, but fell into disuse after 1992 and is no longer maintained. Approaching and visiting the building in the middle of winter was a real adventure.
In general, my photographs draw the spectator in with the play of light and shadow, of artifice and nature. Looking at these images, one goes beyond merely contemplating the subject and begins to truly "understand" it. We experience a sense of freedom before these images of constructed spaces whose original function has been lost, as when a dimly lit concrete ceiling riddled with holes conjures, remarkably, a starry night’s sky.
An impenetrable spirit emanates from these pictures that seem to come from another dimension. But which one? The deep investigation into these spaces reveals their mysterious nature, which becomes its true raison d’être. Don’t all mysteries keep one guessing, reflecting? This is what the photographs suggest, the dreamlike nature of places that no longer serve the purposes for which they were built, the uncanny aesthetic of sites that are no longer familiar.