Jules Spinatsch Snow Management
Scene J3, 2004
Scene D6, 2004
Unit BAIR, 2008
Scene SHAP-Hannibal, 2007
Scene D13, 2004
Scene S2, 2007
Scene B3, 2005
Unit EWD2, 2008
Unit R2D2, 2005
Scene I2M, 2005
Scene I2, 2006
Scene KMP2, 2005
Unit MSB, 2005
Unit MNBEVO, 2005
Unit L2AU, 2007
Unit ALDH, 2006
Artist's statement
Since the 18th century, when some Brits discovered this conquered territory in the middle of Europe, the Alps have been considered the ‘epitome of sublime nature’. Over the past two centuries, the relatively untouched mountains have been transformed into a high-tech event landscape.
The agenda changed dramatically in the last 20 years, when, after decades of growth the winter sport market began to stagnate in the 1980s. At about the same time the first effects of what we call today global warming hit the Alps, resulting in less and less snow every year. A fierce competition began among winter sports destinations in order to survive and escape the effects of global warming for some more years: it led to (still ongoing) huge investments in facilities to produce artificial snow and machines to prepare the slopes perfectly every night. Further with the introduction of the snowboard in the late 1980s and other new sports tools, a young urban lifestyle arrived and prevailed, turning rustic alpine villages and valleys into fun parks. Today spectacular events are organized to promote them, even new sports disciplines are invented ranging form challenging to entertaining, from ridiculous to absurd. The Alpine landscape has become an advertising arena, were marketing strategists battle for consumers and visitors simultaneously, while neglecting to fight the bigger challenge, to find more sustainable strategies. The long-term project Snow Management is a case study of the current winter tourism industry in the European Alps. It follows a documentary approach that offers a view for the drama and poetry of the real while maintaining an analytical distance, thus leaving its interpretation open to the viewer.
About the photographer
1964, Davos, Switzerland
Swiss
Zurich, Switzerland
Jules Spinatsch was born in 1964 in Davos, Switzerland. He lives and works in Zurich, and teaches at the Geneva University of Art and Design.
Exhibitions:
- Voyeurism, Surveillance, and the Camera since 1870, SFMoMA, 2009
- Kunstmuseum Zug; Blancpain Art Contemporaine, Geneva, 2008
- Spectacular City: Photographing the Future, NAI Netherlands Architecture Institut, Rotterdam, and NRW Forum Dusseldorf . Seedamm Kulturzentrum, Pfäffikon, MoMA Museum of Modern Art, NY, NEW PHOTOGRAPHY ‘06, Probst, Spinatsch, Monk, 2007
- Printemps du Septembre, FABRE N’EST PAS VENU, 2007
- Festival Toulouse, Cat., 2007
- Galerie Luciano Fasciati, Chur, OLYMP, Solo Show, 2007
- Kunsthaus Zürich, EXPANDED EYE, Cat., 2007
- Kunsthaus Zürich, IN DEN ALPEN, Cat., 2007
- Haus der Kunst, Munich and Palais de Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, CLICK/DOUBLE CLICK, Cat., 2007
- Ausstellungsraum 25, Zurich, Solo Show, SNOW MANAGEMENT 2005
- VTO Gallery, London, Solo Show, 2004
- TEMPORARY DISCOMFORT vs REVOLUTION MARKETING, Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur, WEISSE WUNDERWARE SCHNEE, Cat., 2004
- Centre de la photographie, Geneve, Solo Show, 2003
- TEMPORARY DISCOMFORT I-V, 2003
- Kunstraum Walcheturm Zurich, Live Panorama Installation TEMPORARY DISCOMFORT IV, Solo Show, 2003
- Noorderlicht Photofestival, Groningen, GLOBAL DETAIL, Cat.
- IKONEN. KUNST UND KULT, Coninx Museum, Zürich, Cat., 2002
- Coalmine Galerie Zürich-Winterthur, Solo Show, 2002
- TEMPORARY DISCOMFORT I-III Merano Arte, BELLA VISTA Weinberger bis Segantini, Cat., 2002
- Galerie Luciano Fasciati, Chur, Solo Show, TEMPORARY DISCOMFORT I-II, 2002
Publications (Monograph):
- Highlights International, Kodoji Press, 2007
- We Will Never Be So Close Again, Kodoji 2006
- TEMPORARY DISCOMFORT CHAPTER I-V, Kodoji & Lars Müller Publishers, 2005
- Brand New Animals, Lars Müller Publishers, 2000
Awards:
- 2007 City of Zurich, Residency in San Francisco and Hawaii
- 2005 Prix du Livre, Rencontre d’Arles-F, best book 2005
- 2004 International BMW Photography Prize, Paris Photo
- 2004 Swiss Art Award
- 2003 + 04 Canton Zurich Art Award
- 2002 Studio Grant London, Landis + Gyr Foundation, Zug
- 1999 Studio Grant Paris, Cultural Commission of the Grisons
Water shortlist
Benoit Aquin, The Chinese 'Dust Bowl', 2006-2007
Edward Burtynsky, Selected works, 1996-2007
Jesus Abad Colorado, Landscapes and Battles: Two wings wait for the end of the tragedy, 1995-2002
Thomas Joshua Cooper, The World's Edge - The Atlantic Basin Project, 1998-2006
Sebastian Copeland, Antarctica - The Global Warning, 2006
Christian Cravo, Waters of Hope, Rivers of Tears, 1995-2008
Lynn Davis, Ice, 1988-2007
Carl De Keyzer, Moments before the Flood, 2006-2007
Reza Deghati, War and Peace, 1994-2006
Susan Derges, Eden & The Observer and the Observed, 1991-2008
Malcolm Hutcheson, Lahore's Waste Water Problem, 2008
Chris Jordan, In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster, 2005
David Maisel, Terminal Mirage & The Lake Project, 2001-2004
Mary Mattingly, Second Nature and Time Has Fallen Asleep, 2004-2008
Robert Polidori, After The Flood, 2005-2006
Roman Signer, Body of Work, 1976-2000
Jules Spinatsch, Snow Management, 2004-2008
Munem Wasif, Water Tragedy: Climate Refugee of Bangladesh, 2007