Bus Stops

The illustrated book presents a series of bus stops that Michael Kruscha photographed while traveling. The recordings come from Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan/Armenia, Arabia/Middle East, North and South Africa, South America and Asia. The starting point was a trip to Oman, where the artist encountered bus stops on hundreds of kilometers of desert roads.

They seem paradoxical: The structure built to wait appears robbed of its function, a L'art-pour-l'art product? The design is even more astonishing. The small secular buildings vary in material, shape and condition: sometimes between decorative architecture and futuristic sculpture, with relief, painting or mosaic, geometrically reduced and decorated with ornaments or figures. Some are serial, others individually produced, some palatial and artistic, some provisionally constructed or half-dilapidated.

The illustrated book alternates close-up shots of atmospheric landscapes with extraordinary details, picturesque color transitions and high-contrast image compositions. Art historical representations, an interview with the artist and quotes from well-known authors intensify the travel experience. The viewer is fascinated by the aesthetic appeal of foreign landscapes as well as the variety of international architectural styles that merge here in a unique way.