Josef Dabernig works as a film author and visual artist. The feedback interaction between the two mediums is, appropriately, varied and many-formed. In 1996, he shot the film Wisla in the empty, dilapidated stadium in Krakow. The film was concerned with absence and presence, as is often the case with Dabernig’s work, for example, the football trainers who watch a non-existent match. In both his sculptural-architectural works and in the field of film, Dabernig proves to be a minimalist and master of precision who would rather omit than add something. His photographic work is largely unknown. Match in Pozzuli comes from a series of panorama-like images of various football stadiums placed side by side. In contrast to the magnificent emptiness of monumental buildings, Dabernig shows a cheerful motive – regional players are cheered on by their fans. The photos are a perfect hinge in Josef Dabernig’s art system; the panorama is the forerunner of film.

Brigitte Huck, 2005 (translation: Tim Sharp)