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"Theater of Transparency" is the title of a video installation by the Argentine artist Osvaldo Romberg (* 1938 in Buenos Aires), who lives in Philadelphia. Three videos which the artist produced during the last few years are in the center of the event, together with the protagonists of the videos – dolls or puppets made of transparent acrylic.
Romberg’s artistic development starts from a conceptual approach in painting, which finds new articulations in the field of electronic media. The 3D aspects of the video installation, and the partial implementation of the virtual event in real space provide the framework for this exhibit. Directed lighting, and the unique spatial situation (the mirror hall of the Neue Galerie) create a hermetic environment in dialogue with the virtual video space. This results in an interpenetration of both spatial concepts. Osvaldo Romberg’s ambivalence towards providing a linear structure or narrative logic in films such as "From Paradise to Paradise" or "Jesus de Buenos Aires" perhaps reflects his ambivalence towards technology itself. The heterogeneity of techniques employed in his films is indicative not simply of an experimental disposition, but also a profound skepticisim towards those that would find in technology a sort of sublimity or political fidelity.
