Bus Stops

This photo book presents a series of bus stops photographed by Michael Kruscha while traveling. The pictures were taken in Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan/Armenia, Arabia/Middle East, North and South Africa, South America and Asia. The trip began in Oman, where the artist encountered bus stops strewn along hundreds of kilometers of desert road. They seem paradoxical: the structures built for the purpose of waiting appear to be deprived of their role, a l’art-pour-l’art product? All the more astonishing is the design. The small secular constructions vary in material, shape and condition: they are a mix of geometrically reduced decorative architecture and futuristic plastic, with reliefs, paintings or mosaics, and ornamentation or figures. Some are serially produced, while others are individual, some palatial and ornate, while others are only semi-erected in a provisional state or dilapidated. Close-ups of evocative landscapes and unusual details, picturesque transitions of color and contrasting compositions alternate with every page in the book. Portrayals of art history, an interview with the artist and quotes from wellknown authors intensify the traveling experience. The viewer is fascinated by the aesthetic appeal of foreign landscapes and the diversity of international architectural styles that uniquely coalesce.