ABOUT THE WORK
Participation at the VIP Program PARIS PHOTO LOS ANGELES at Fitzpatrick Leland House (2015)

'On Pleasure Grounds'
It is quiet, dry and hot. And yet it feels charged and strangely welcoming. Charged with longing, hope and resignation. There is no way out. You can only watch and come to terms with it. Escape to the gluttony, and staring at seemingly senseless technology and even more useless leftover nature is probably the only possible distraction that there is. Even if you pay for admission and hope that it will open a glimpse into another world - there is always only one's own views. The silence is the cry of humanity who have entrenched their hope behind high walls. For the people shown here, it has become impossible to give a fascination to anything may this be wild beasts or high end weapons designed to kill. You get stuck in the queue for fast deliverable and quickly-rocketing-into-the-bloodstream-treats. And then to only have the time for a quick souvenir photo. They were never really there. Although the evidence is stored on celluloid. But we and no one else will ever ask you for proof thereof. Not because it all seems unimportant, but because these people are simply irrelevant. They are puppets of the surrounding system. Nothing remains. Nothing is important. In this world, it was no different for a long time. And so is the silent plea for a loud outcry - for a loud popping down to finally change something, passed quietly and defiant in it's responsibility from one generation to the next. Without the next generation ever being able to understand the responsibility they carry on the little shoulders. Crushed - before they could stand upright at least once in order to breathe deeply and to see who has painted you - there is nothing left for these people but to ride their hobby horses. The highlight of her life ? The hairline crack of this constructed system ?

Clemens Ascher's series 'On Pleasure Grounds' depicts scenes at a fictional amusement park - people are shown in a moment of leisure but the space they inhabit is bleak and slightly threatening. Military weapons and wild domesticated animals populate this landscape and as viewers we are unsure what is real and what not. It is a highly artificial world, nearly two-dimensional, where missiles, animals and people function like interchangeable figurines, marionettes playing on a constructed stage - Cockaigne , stage and valve.
– Text by Florian Regl

ABOUT THE WORK
Participation at the Exhibition ARCHITECTURE | LANDSCAPE (2012)

'AROUND TEN'
is a juxtaposition of dreamy memories and a post-apocalyptic vision of the future. While the Lamborghini Bravo by Bertone and the concrete buildings are reminiscent of the 1970s, the lack of further hints towards a possible setting, date and time makes it hard to position the visuals within an understandable context. Hence, the photographs merely suggest a story –just like film stills– that continues to evolve and unfold in the eye of the beholder.

'DESERT STRUCTURES'
is a series of Photographs depicting the often bizarre results of our constant struggle to colonize nature, even in her most hostile forms. It tries to explore the evolving relation between mankind and it's surrounding.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Clemens Ascher, born in Innsbruck, graduated from the Miami Ad School Europe in Hamburg, where he completed his qualifications as an art director and commercial photographer. His talent was already discovered while he was still studying and won him awards such as the ‘German Student of the year’ from the ADC.

Once he graduated he completed a long-term photography assistant job in Hamburg, before launching his freelance photographer career in 2008. Since then he has participated in several group and solo shows in Austria and works for international clients. Clemens lives and works between Vienna, Innsbruck, London, and Hamburg.