Case Study · Advisory

The museum’s own knowledge, made visible.

Viewfinder by Marcel Schwittlick at the Belvedere Museum, Vienna: conservation imaging of Klimt paintings turned into an exhibitable work, shown alongside the originals.

Client: Belvedere Museum, Vienna
Year: 2025
Artist: Marcel Schwittlick
Context: Finissage of “Pigment & Pixel” (Klimt)
My role: Concept, artist selection, coordination, film direction, opening lecture
Field: Digital art advisory

Example image. Will be replaced with installation photography.

The brief

The Belvedere holds some of the most studied paintings in the world. Its conservation department produces X-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared imaging of Klimt’s works, material that almost nobody outside the lab ever sees. The museum wanted that knowledge on the wall, next to the paintings themselves, and asked me to find the artist who could carry it there.

The work

I proposed Marcel Schwittlick, an artist working on the line between generative systems and drawing. From there my mandate ran across departments: advising the house on concept and framing, coordinating the technical realization with the artist, and directing the short film that accompanied the project. At the opening I gave the lecture, on Viewfinder and the history of computer art it stands in.

Example image. Conservation imaging detail, to be replaced.

The result

Viewfinder was shown in September 2025 during the finissage of “Pigment & Pixel”, alongside the Klimt originals. Conservation science became something visitors could stand in front of.

For me this is what advisory looks like in practice: find the right people, translate between departments, and make an institution’s own knowledge visible.

The project, with more images and detail: schwittlick.net/viewfinder

Example image. Still from the short film, to be replaced.

← All selected work

Curious about the project, or the thinking behind it? Write to me.

stenreiss@gmail.com