FAUNA (1987)

23 July 9 November 2014

 Joan Fontcuberta: Stranger Than Fiction

KARELIA, Joan Fontcuberta (born 1955) is an artist whose works investigate

MIRACLES the truth and reliability of photography. Using the visual languages
& CO of journalism, advertising, museum displays and scientific
journals, he fabricates documentary narratives that combine
reality and fiction. Compelling and convincing, yet also subversive
and deadpan, his works are an investigation into photographys
authority and our inclination to believe what we see.
SIRENS
Fontcuberta is a master of photographing ideas. His works inflate
truth to its bursting point and, by approaching his imagined
CONSTELLATIONS subjects with sincerity and humanity, he sets up a tug-of-war
between our beliefs and scepticism. Yet while his work tenaciously
interrogates the power of the photograph as evidence, it also
compels us to suspend our beliefs and join him on his remarkable
OROGENESIS
journeys into his fictional worlds.

Stranger Than Fiction presents six of Fontcubertas best-known

HERBARIUM
works. Fauna (1987) and Herbarium (1984) are zoological and
botanical studies of newly discovered species. In Orogenesis (2002)
Fontcuberta creates landscapes from computer-generated data,
while Constellations (1993) is an astronomical study of new star
systems. Sirens (2000) is an investigation into the discovery of
mermaid fossils and Karelia, Miracles & Co (2002) documents the
bizarre miracles performed by a secluded monastic sect.
FAUNA
The exhibition is curated by Greg Hobson, Curator of Photographs,
National Media Museum, Bradford and Joan Fontcuberta.
ENTRANCE

WAY OUT

Joan Fontcubertas book The Photography of Nature. The Nature

of Photography is available from the Science Museum Shop
priced 45.
SHOP
 FAUNA (1987)

In the summer of 1980, Joan Fontcuberta and his friend Pere

Formiguera were staying in a gloomy old mansion being run
as a B&B at Cape Wrath, in the far north of Scotland. During an
afternoon exploring the damp basement of their accommodation,
they discovered the archive of the work of Professor Peter
Ameisenhaufen. The archive meticulously documented zoological
discoveries made by Ameisenhaufen during his expeditions
to different parts of the world, in search of exceptions to
Darwins theory of evolution. Prior to the discovery of the archive,
Ameisenhaufens research was completely unknown to the
scientific community and the general public.

Despite the completeness of Fauna as a history of

Ameisenhaufens research, everything in it was created by
Joan Fontcuberta in collaboration with the artist and writer
Pere Formiguera (19522013). From the professor himself,
to the detailed notes and taxidermy animals, the work is
an artistic fabrication that questions the authority of
museum display.

Solenoglypha polipodida from the Fauna series by Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera, 1987.
Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera
 HERBARIUM (1984)

In the sprit of Carl Linnaeus (170778), a botanist and physician

considered to be the father of modern taxonomy, Fontcuberta
has set out to describe and name new plant species. His exquisite
photographs reference the work of Karl Blossfeldt (18651932),
a German photographer who searched for artistic pattern and
architectural structure in his own photography of plants.

Fontcuberta photographed his plant discoveries against neutral

backgrounds to facilitate their identification and comparison,
while also drawing our attention to the conflation of nature
and art. These new plants are extraordinary in the ways in
which they appear to mimic both human and inanimate forms
in their appearance.

The elaborate and convincing plants are actually sculptural

objects, created by Fontcuberta from plant matter and various
man-made found materials such as electrical wires and textiles.

Giliandria escoliforcia from the Herbarium series by Joan Fontcuberta, 1984.

Joan Fontcuberta
 OROGENESIS (2002)

Mountains have mesmerised artists, who from the 1700s have

used the power and drama of mountain landscapes to evoke the
nature of our planet as infinite yet unalterable.

As features in the landscape, mountains carry a powerful

symbolic charge. They represent the imposing forces of nature;
their peaks are thought to bring people closer to the heavens and
looking down from mountains offers an awe-inspiring view of the
vastness of the world.

Fascinated by the fictional and subjective depictions of the

landscape in painting and photography, Fontcuberta has used
the computer language of geographers and surveyors to
intervene with existing works of art to create new mountain
landscape images that take us back to the emotional energy
of Romantic painting.

Using a topographic computer program that converts map

contours into three-dimensional landscape images, Fontcuberta
has scanned landscape paintings and photographs, then used the
program to select an alternative viewpoint from within the digital
scan to make a new work from the old.

Bodyscape (Heel), 2004 from the Orogenesis series by Joan Fontcuberta. Joan Fontcuberta
 CONSTELLATIONS (1993)

Astronomers study the night sky in search of new planets, moons,

stars and transient celestial phenomena. Astrologers regard the
heavenly bodies as intimately linked to human affairs, providing
a key to our happiness or misfortune. We use the stars to
orientate ourselves when we are lost. The age-old sense of
guidance and enlightenment provides inspiration for artists,
musicians and writers.

As an amateur astronomer interested in photographing

constellations, Fontcuberta creates depictions of the night
sky that pay tribute to the magnificence of the cosmos, while
inviting reflection on our relationship with images and the
things they represent.

Although the photographs might be entirely persuasive depictions

of constellations, they are, in fact, made by Fontcuberta placing
photographic paper against the window of his car. The various
asteroids, stars and moons are the traces of insects, dust and
dirt that have gathered there during his journeys between
Barcelona and his home in the countryside.

MN 27 Vulpecula (NGC 6853), 1993 from the Constellations series by Joan Fontcuberta.
Joan Fontcuberta
 SIRENS (2000)

In 1947 Father Jean Fontana, a priest and teacher at the Petit

Sminaire in the foothills of the French Alps, discovered the
fossilised remains of a previously unknown species. He named it
Hydropithecus alpinus. The fossils bear an uncanny resemblance
to the dugong and the now-extinct Stellers sea cow, yet have
curiously human features. They have now been authenticated
by anthropo-palaeontologists and are thought to be early
mer-people, forming a tangible link in the development of the
human species between the sea and the land.

The site of the discoveries has been designated a UNESCO World

Heritage Site and the fossils are the subject of a major National
Geologic magazine story and film, for which professional wildlife
photographer Fontcuberta was assigned to photograph.

Digne-les-Bains in the southeast of France is located in the

largest geological reserve in Europe and Fontcuberta
collaborated with the local Muse Gassendi to create the Sirens
work. The story about the discovery of the mermaid fossil is
asserted through Fontcubertas placing of the fossil evidence
in the Provence landscape, where it can still be seen. Sirens
is entirely fictional, however, including National Geologic
magazine, which has never existed.

Hydropithecus of Cerro de San Vicente, 2006 from the Sirens series by Joan Fontcuberta.
Joan Fontcuberta
 KARELIA, MIRACLES & CO (2002)

Karelia is a region of northern Europe that straddles Finland

and Russia. Close to the border in Finnish territory is the
interdenominational Valhamnde Monastery, where monks are
said to learn how to perform miracles. The complex miracles,
often surreal in their realisation, appear to have no earthly value
beyond their manifestation.

Determined to expose the miracles as hoaxes and the monks as

charlatans, Fontcuberta posed as a novice monk to gain entry to
the monastery. There he documented what he considered to be
a blatant case of fraud.

Karelia is a relatively unknown area of Europe. It is not an

established tourist destination, despite its stunning landscapes,
churches and monasteries, so therefore remains something of
a mystery. It is not known whether Valhamnde Monastery exists
or not, or if genuine miracles are performed there.

The Miracle of Dolphin-Surfing, 2002 from the Karelia, Miracles & Co series. Joan Fontcuberta
Events

Joan Fontcuberta talk and in conversation with curator

Greg Hobson
Monday 27 October, 19.0020.30
5 (concessions 3)

An illustrated lecture by Joan Fontcuberta, followed by the

artist in conversation with Greg Hobson and an audience Q&A.
The event will conclude with a book signing.

Fiction and Photography Symposium

In collaboration with Westminster University
Saturday 8 November
The Theatre, ground floor
15 (concessions 12)

This all-day conference will explore the concept of fiction, from

deliberate fakery and stagecraft to literary innovation. Scholars,
photographers and artists will discuss and demonstrate ways
in which fiction has shaped contemporary photographic work.

Wednesday lunchtime tours

13.0013.45
Free with same-day exhibition ticket, no booking required

Every fortnight, beginning Wednesday 6 August, join a

member of the Media Space curatorial team for an informal
tour of Stranger Than Fiction. Please visit the website for
more information.

Joan Fontcuberta on a photo safari. Joan Fontcuberta

Acknowledgments
This exhibition was made possible with the generous support of
the Government of Catalonia and the collaboration of the Museu
Nacional dArt de Catalunya, Barcelona, as part of the Catalan
Tercentenary celebrations.
Throughout 2014 the Catalan Tercentenary will commemorate
the fall of the city of Barcelona that ended the War of Spanish
Succession on 11 September 1714. This date marks one of the
most important periods in Catalan history. Three hundred years
later, the Case of the Catalans is now being recognised in the
capital cities of the great powers that took part in the original
conflict: London, Paris, Vienna and Brussels, among others.
This international aspect of the Tercentenary commemoration
includes a programme that brings together celebrated creative
Catalan figures from different eras such as Antoni Gaud,
Joan Mir and Joan Fontcuberta, as well as young exponents
of the continuing creativity and diversity of contemporary
Catalan culture.
With the collaboration of Museu Nacional dArt
de Catalunya, Barcelona
Al llarg de 2014, el Tricentenari commemorar la caiguda de
la ciutat de Barcelona. que va posar fi a la guerra de Successi
espanyola l11 de setembre de 1714; una data que marca un
dels perodes ms importants de la histria de Catalunya.
Al cap de 300 anys, el cas dels catalans torna a ser motiu de
debat a les capitals de les grans potncies que van participar
en el conflicte original: Londres, Pars, Viena i Brusselles,
entre daltres.
El vessant internacional de la commemoraci del Tricentenari
inclou un programa que uneix figures catalanes de renom
internacional de diferents poques, com Antoni Gaud, Joan Mir
i Joan Fontcuberta, a ms de joves exponents de la creativitat i
diversitat de la cultura catalana contempornia.
Amb la collaboraci del Museu Nacional dArt
de Catalunya, Barcelona
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Cover image: Cercopithecus icarocornu from the Fauna series by Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera, 1985.
Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera