Through his artistic investigations into manmade landscapes and environments, Hirschbichler constructs a speculative worldview for our time. His latest series of work, addresses the hidden beauty of the Rio Tinto in Andalusia and its striking narrative of environmental degradation. By using the highly acidic water of this river (a result of human activity), Hirschbichler has produced unique red prints through photochemical reactions, reflecting the impact of the Anthropocene on artistic expression.
In the series Gebäude auf Papier (Building on Paper), the artist captures regional transformations of the Rhine Valley by turning demolition materials into graphic prints. These works not only pay tribute to the changing landscapes but also to the stories they both contain and lose in their rapid evolution.
The installation Theater of Combustion (in collaboration with Lukas Raeber), plunges viewers into one of the world’s oldest industrial oil fields in Baku, Azerbaijan, transforming the act of burning into a memorable visual spectacle.
Michael Hirschbichler is a transdisciplinary artist with a background in architecture and anthropology. Through his artist investigations of contemporary spaces, landscapes and environments – combining research and its speculative transformation – he aims to construct a possible siutated world view of our time.
Michael Hirschbichler studied at ETH Zurich and Humboldt University zu Berlin, and completed his doctorate at Berlin University of the Arts on the subject of “Mythical Constructions”. He was an artistic researcher at TU Delft, Goldsmiths and Aarhus University, taught as a visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and is currently a professor for Experimental Creation at HafenCity University Hamburg. He held residencies at YARAT Contemporary Art Space in Baku, Cité internationale des arts in Paris, Binz39 Foundation in Zurich, Villa Kamogawa (Goethe Institute) in Kyoto and SACO (Goethe Institute and Institut Français) in Antofagasta. His work is in the collections of the German Parliament, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Zürcher Kantonalbank, the city of Zurich, and others. Michael Hirschbichler is a recipient of the Rome Prize by the German Academy Villa Massimo.