WAYS OF KNOWING (2015)
In WAYS OF KNOWING, curious outsiders are given an insight into the fascinating world of science. Stier photographed experimental set-ups in laboratories across Europe and the United States, creating bizarre images which sometimes evoke more associations with medieval torture chambers than with the quest for knowledge. He furthermore made still lives of experiments in his own studio – sometimes depicting real laws of nature, at other times springing entirely from his imagination. By mixing reality and fiction, he emphasises the similarities between the motivations and obsessions in artistic and scientific practices: both seek answers to big questions and are characterised by obsessive convictions which have led to a high degree of specialisation. WAYS OF KNOWING is a metaphor for a process of research with an open end, a feedback loop of thinking and doing, ultimately with the strong urge to order an all too complex reality.
