Light and darkness transform city buildings into surreal structures: an ordinary gray concrete building in plain daylight changes into a mysterious monolith by night or into an ethereal edifice under a blue-tinted lens. Swedish artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff similarly harnessed the transformative powers of light to create a powerful spectacle that presents Chicago architecture from a wholly original perspective in this collection of striking photographs. n
Red Empty (Chicago 2003) is the latest in a series of urban-centered works spanning from Bangkok to Santa Fe that set 1000-watt red spotlights against the architecture of run down and abandoned buildings to generate spectral real-world monochromes. Von Hausswolff's images explore intermediate realms through these otherworldly images-worlds traced by psychic residue that rewrite the history of particular sites. Red Empty is a compelling visual work that transforms Chicago architecture into thought-provoking sculptures of light, shadow, and stone.