Lumen Zine Heft 12: Alwin Lay

“Photos are the top priority! Pictures, or it didn’t happen!” This must have been what the order sounded like when the United States prepared for the moon landing and the accompanying media spectacle for millions of viewers. Only powerful pictures would make the 25-billion-dollar mission believable—or better yet: prove it. In fact, the Apollo 11 astronauts brought home some breathtakingly brilliant photographs. Hasselblad and Zeiss had fired on all cylinders in terms of what technology had to offer. The photos were as convincing as the footage Stanley Kubrick released a year prior in 2001: A Space Odyssey. This is where Alwin Lay comes in. The objects he lands on his (lunar) stage have a surprising life of their own. He warps proportions to their benefit, overcomes gravity and he repurposes photographic tools.” Ruth Horak

In its capacity as a micromuseum, MuseumQuartier Vienna’s Sternenpassage highlights artists whose work broadly relates to photography. Each resulting series is presented across five illuminated circular display cases mounted on the walls. Lumen Zine is a miniature catalogue supplementing exhibitions at Sternenpassage.