Temp
The photographs in Temp document urban sites around the world that evidence cities in various states of regeneration. The intent of the work is to capture the evolving form, use and inhabitation of the city; the images show how the buildings are conceived and protected during the reconstruction process, providing a record of the continual transformation and reinvention of urban spaces and conditions. Through the hazy and distorted reflections afforded by the glazed and mirrored surfaces of buildings, a sense of the ephemeral quality of the city is expressed, along with the activity and movement of daily life.
During these periods of urban refinement and renewal, the inventive wrapping and scaffolding of buildings momentarily replace aging historic façades. Construction hoarding in the form of colour-blocked walls and graphic scrims veil activity within and quiet the din of transformation. Fabric tarps flutter seductively in the breeze, the fluid dance of draped panels offering passersby an unintended but welcome performance.
The images give pause to the act of monumental remaking, the perpetual state of flux and activity as the city digests itself. Whether Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen or Munich, the temporal nature of the city is captured by the camera at a particular moment – a depiction of these stripped and half-naked structures in transition, a reminder of what was, what is, and what is yet to come.
All photographs by Brent Wagler, 2017.