Hanna Wäger

How can something so destructive
be so beautiful at the same time?

How was it that destruction could be so beautiful? Was there something in the scale of it? Was there some shadow in people, lusting for it? Or was it just a coincidental combination of the elements, the final proof that beauty has no moral dimension?

– Kim Stanley Robinson

FIRST IDEAS/ THOUGHTS

TEXT / EXPLENATION

I created an Instagram feed that on first sight almost looks like an arrange of abstract paintings. Their bright and vivid colours immediately draw in the viewer, yet if you take a closer look and open one of these posts, you discover that what you have seen at first was only a selected part of the picture. A chosen perspective that I wanted you to see. The next photo in the series will reveal the whole picture. In an instant something calm and aesthetic can suddenly turn into something horrifying. In juxtaposition to their aesthetic appeal, the photographs depict the ugly reality of oil spills, coal mining and toxic waste deposits. I hope to create a contrast between the initial allure and subsequent shock that each photograph triggers. 

With this project I wanted to challenge the question if there is beauty in destruction and at the same time raise awareness for the tremendous impact pollution has on our environment with a combination of visual beauty and unsettling content.