Matan Ashkenazy

The Bank Work invites the spectator to observe on different realities that occur in one place. The photographs are made by looking at the facades of the Bank of England while it is being cleaned, resulting in the disappearance of dirt accumulated over the past two hundred years. 

In the work, the facades repeat themselves in a dirty / clean version in the exhibition space. The architectural surfaces can be seen as objects that contain a photographic logic. The reappearing walls seem as though they were reprinted in a different version, and seemingly looking as if they are darker or lighter prints, intentionally enhancing the connection between the surface of the facades and questions of representation. The act of cleaning is defined as an historical event and as a metaphor for erasing the past, therefore cleaning is valued as an act of representation.

The scale, framing and printing of each work are deliberately made to look modernist or 'classic', thus reminding the spectator that the artist is using conventions of looking to impose a trick of representation. The ensuing deception of photography is revealed and remain exposed. The installation considers the movement constructed in the space, therefore, erasing, looking and walking are all connected as a metaphor for a weaker reality constructed by such an important institution. Photography itself appears as an act of cleaning reality in order to represent the world, revealing itself as an institution of looking.