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Now is not the right time
Peter Pflügler (AT)
Photography and text:
Peter Pflügler
Text edit and proofreading:
Xiomara van Eendenburg, Danit Ariel
Design:
Sybren Kuiper (SYB)
Lithography:
Sebastiaan Hanekroot (Colour&Books)
Production:
Jos Morree (Fine Books)
Print and binding:
Wilco Art Books (NL)
Supported by:
Federal Ministry Republic of Austria
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
Gemeente Den Haag
Bildrecht
Stichting Stokroos
When I was two years old, my father went into the woods, with the intention of never coming back.
Peter Pflügler (AT) takes us on an intimate journey through the labyrinth of a family secret. The suicide attempt of his father was concealed for twenty years. And yet he has always somehow known.
Carefully investigating the traces of this silent, dark story, he created images that live on the brink of comfort and irritation, between love and pain. Leafing through this slightly uncomfortable landscape, the viewer is invited to look further and discover texts and images hidden between the pages.
Now is not the right time is about the impossibility of secrets, about what we share when we hide, and about intergenerational trauma. It is a work about pain inflicted out of love, the complexity of silence and the inexplicable sadness of a boy.
Mom… Dad… this is your trauma that you kept wrapped up in countless colourful blankets and yet handed over to me in a loving embrace. I will carry it with care.
Peter Pflügler is an Austrian visual storyteller based in the Netherlands. His work centres around the dynamics of secrets, intergenerational trauma and silence. With the help of photography, video and text, he aims to resurrect the unseen, the unknown and the hidden. In the end, he does not believe in secrets. Now is not the right time has been shown at numerous festivals and exhibitions throughout Europe, and the dummy of the book was nominated for several awards, including the Kassel Dummy award.
“Seen as one integrated expression, Now is not the right time is a considered and thoughtful photobook. Through its use of duality, its constant feeling of being off balance, and its allusive associations, the photobook visualizes the artist’s vulnerable emotional state caused by the unspoken secret in his life. And while the project is deeply personal, it touches on more universal issues related to the ways silence inflicts trauma and pain.” (Olga Yatskevich)
“‘I added the text very late in the process and it was a personal necessity to do so. My visuals represent my state of growing up, while the secret was still concealed. They are about knowing without knowing, they are about sensing, not understanding. I realized that I would prolong the circle of silence and the heavy weight of confusion if I do not offer my audience the relieve of clarity. So, I added text. And yet, this contextual layer would interfere with the experience of the visuals if it would be immediately accessible. That is why the text is ‘hidden’ in the book, between the pages.’” (Ilias Lois)