Introduction

Christoph Keller (born 1967 in Freiburg im Breisgau) situates himself in his works at the point of intersection between art and science. The title Observatorium does not only designate a series of works of the same name, but also his artistic approach per se. It deals with a reversal of the view: the observer himself becomes the object of observation. It is an inversion that is also directly reflected in the photographs from the series: they are inverted, i.e. shown as negatives.

Keller’s works are ultimately less about scientific cognition itself than about the motivating forces behind them. Their desire and their specific goals provide information about what moves a society. In this sense Keller is also increasingly interested in pseudoscientific phenomena such as hypnosis and conspiracy theories which, as “scientific constructs,” are similarly expressions of a certain social consciousness. But Keller also connects science and art in his approach by linking the methodologies and techniques of the former with the psychosomatic experience of art: the observer himself sometimes becomes a field researcher and the exhibition venue itself becomes an observatory.