Progress

The Future of Yesterday is a photographic series about the architectural remnants of world exhibitions, often revealing an ironic contrast between the grand utopian views of times past and the urban reality of today

Installation of four photo panels, duratrans on acrylic, wood, cardboard, golf balls, neon lights

220 x 80 x 6 cm (4 pieces)

2010

Content

The pictures on show were taken at the venues of the World Expositions. Not the kind of spectacular views that nations take pride in. Instead, these pictures show what is left of those Expo’s; graffiti on the walls, paint that comes off, weeds overgrowing the land and debris that is scattered around. Ives Maes’ pictures are basically about the ruins of the World Expo. A World Expo is essentially an expression of hope for a bright future. Meanwhile, the Expo sites have been abandoned long time ago and the ruins that are left indicate a vision of another future. Ruins are not simply ruins; they are traces of mankind. Maes distances himself from the overly optimistic view on Expo’s and comes instead with a descriptive structure of the Expo’s story. He doesn’t replace it with a completely different future. Instead, he pictures a reality in between.

Excerpt from the text 'Progress' by Meruro Washida

PROJECT

In THE FUTURE OF YESTERDAY the Belgian artist Ives Maes searched the globe looking for evidence of World’s Fairs. He photographed the architectural remnants of these short-lived events and the sites on which they were built, often revealing an ironic contrast between the grand utopian views of times past and the urban reality of today. His eerie photographs are afterimages, lingering vestiges of now fading dreams.

EXHIBITION

Progress

VOID+, Tokyo, Japan

03/04/10 - 23/04/10

Curated by Michiko Ogura

Solo exhibition

Installation view by Takashi Mochizuki