Nha Trang

In his photograph from 2004 titled “Nha Trang” German artist Andreas Gursky addresses a socio-cultural issue that crops up time and again in his work: people at work. In a factory hall in the Vietnamese coastal town Nha Trang, female workers are weaving chairs and baskets. The bird’s-eye perspective enables the spectator to discern the material’s rich variety of colour and texture. The composition, which is structured by black electro-cables, references the large-scale patterns of a Jackson Pollock, a Willem de Koonig and other masters of a heroic American avant-garde. As in many of his photographs, the artist’s point of view is characterized by an aloofness that is intended to reflect the anonymity of modern existence and the interchangeability of people and places. However, as Gursky once declared in an interview, his pictures “are always composed from two sides. If you get very close to them, they can be read down to the smallest detail. Seen from a distance, they become mega signs.”