>Projects >2021 >Nothing was touched, just recorded

Mihai Sovaiala

Nothing was touched, just recorded

In a non-intrusive survey, nothing is touched, just recorded. An accurate survey of the earthworks and other features can enable them to be interpreted without the need for excavation. The Roman artefacts which were found in Wilten district are now presented in the archeology department of the Innsbruck city museum. The photographic documentation stood all the time as a witness beyond the archeology discoveries but was never presented as an artwork rather as a pure tool of documentation. The artefacts stand nowadays in the museum by themselves without any visual imagery. By photographing the locations where the Roman artefacts were found, generates new landmarks which in turn establish a connection between these two elements who were separated one from each other. Meanwhile the artefacts are getting all the attention in a controlled medium, in the same locations new contemporary objects replace the Roman artefacts by using the self-archiving method in the natural environment.

Biography

Mihai Șovăială is an artist currently living and working in Zürich. Since 2013, his photographic work has been focused around the structures of urban developments and their pheriperies, focusing on the impact of architecture on its context and the city’s history. He presents his works either in exhibition contexts, mainly through installations or in book formats, which are at times, self published. He completed his Meisterschüler studies in 2020 at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB) under the guidance of Joachim Brohm, after getting his bachelor degree in photography from the National University of Arts in Bucharest (UNARTE).