Peter Weibel

»Abstrakt–Konkret [Abstract–concrete]« is part of the »Konzeptuelle Fotografie [Conceptual photography]« series titled »Ontologische Sprünge [Ontological jumps]«. It consists of three parts: the framed word »staircase;« a compilation of photographic images of several stairwells; and an empty black frame on the wall. The word »staircase« evokes in the mind an idea, a concrete image of a staircase, which, however, is different for everybody. The abstract term »staircase« is therefore always accompanied by different concrete ideas. The photos reflect the diversity of existing, real staircases. There is no abstract photo of an actual staircase. Only the sign, the word, the term is abstract. Because he has chosen a term that cannot be exhibited as a real object (the staircase) in an exhibition space, Peter Weibel therefore leaves the last frame empty. This conceptual photographic work thus presents in an extremely condensed form the philosophical problem of the possibility or impossibility of reproducing reality through language and images – the difference between media and reality.