Wolfgang Laib, Die neun Planeten

The silent photographs Wolfgang Laib takes on his travels are perhaps best understood as an attempt to grasp at a fleeting and intangible essence, at the ephemeral, which, according to Laib, is eternal. Many of these images belie a fascination with non-European notions of spirituality, with religions that are embedded in everyday life, with temples and monuments that exert a force in the present. Laib's almost meditative pictures capture the aura of everyday vistas, and often preempt ideas later manifested in his sculptures and installations.