SPARK ART FAIR VIENNA 2024 | a mirror with me in it

Marko Zink’s solo exhibition at SPARK, titled “A Mirror with Me in It,” invites viewers on a photographic expedition. Inspired by Sarah Kirsch’s poetry collection of the same title, Zink delves into the deep waters of human experiences, dissecting memories and constructing realities.

Marko Zink exclusively uses analog photography with boiled film material. This technique, which he developed, is his unique signature with high recognition value. The resulting deterioration of the negatives is described by him as a deliberately conceptual approach, challenging the primary criteria of photography as vehicles for memory and documentation. Zink’s photo series often result from interdisciplinary concepts, drawing inspiration from literature as well.

The underwater series “alles was sie sagen” (“everything they say”) focuses on portraits of renowned authors, including Sarah Kirsch, Ingeborg Bachmann, Thomas Bernhard, Paul Celan, Sylvia Plath or Oscar Wilde. These portraits, applied to antique medallions, are staged in the sea, the origin of all life. They are presented in various ways, including in a tabula scalata that changes its perspective abruptly. The amalgamation of image fragments into a three-dimensional installation creates a multi-layered reality that blurs the boundaries between presence and absence, reality, and imagination. The series explores the origins of language and emphasizes the fundamental role of literature and art.

With my sincere thanks to Renate von Mangoldt (photo: Sarah Kirsch), Andrej Reiser | Suhrkamp publishing house (photo: Thomas Bernhard), Hans Müller | Bachmann family archive (photo: Ingeborg Bachmann & Paul Celan), Smith College (photo: Sylvia Plath)