Practice
Fabian Oefner investigates reality as a construct — fabricating moments that never existed, pushing objects to the edge of recognition, and reconstructing the past through the precision of photography and the distortions of memory.
His practice begins with a paradox: the more convincingly something appears before us, the less stable its reality becomes. Working through fragmentation, suspension, and reassembly, he stages events that never occurred, gives time physical form, and rebuilds the past from what memory omits rather than what it preserves.
Across these works, reality is never fixed; it is fabricated, translated, remembered, and rebuilt from what remains.
Fabian Oefner was born in Aarau, Switzerland, in 1984. He lives and works in Connecticut, USA.
Selected Exhibitions
2018 — Momentum, Sharjah Center of the Arts, Sharjah
2024 — Un monde en mouvement, Musée Historique, Lausanne
2025 — Extract, ETH Zurich, Zurich
Publications
2016 J. Velasco, S. Velasco: Look Inside. Gestalten Verlag. Berlin.
2023 A. Varma: Invisible Wonders, National Geographic Books. Washington D.C.
2025: L. Gamwell: Conjuring the Void: The Art of Black Holes, MIT Press, Cambridge MA
Film
2017 V. Jalongo: The Sense of Beauty. Amka Films. 2017
Practice
Fabian Oefner investigates reality as a construct — fabricating moments that never existed, pushing objects to the edge of recognition, and reconstructing the past through the precision of photography and the distortions of memory.
His practice begins with a paradox: the more convincingly something appears before us, the less stable its reality becomes. Working through fragmentation, suspension, and reassembly, he stages events that never occurred, gives time physical form, and rebuilds the past from what memory omits rather than what it preserves.
Across these works, reality is never fixed; it is fabricated, translated, remembered, and rebuilt from what remains.
Fabian Oefner was born in Aarau, Switzerland, in 1984. He lives and works in Connecticut, USA.
Selected Exhibitions
2018 — Momentum, Sharjah Center of the Arts, Sharjah
2024 — Un monde en mouvement, Musée Historique, Lausanne
2025 — Extract, ETH Zurich, Zurich
Publications
2016 J. Velasco, S. Velasco: Look Inside. Gestalten Verlag. Berlin.
2023 A. Varma: Invisible Wonders, National Geographic Books. Washington D.C.
2025: L. Gamwell: Conjuring the Void: The Art of Black Holes, MIT Press, Cambridge MA
Film
2017 V. Jalongo: The Sense of Beauty. Amka Films. 2017
Oefner for Nike 2022 Fabian Oefner 2024 Oefner working on Glacier Timelines
Photographing the retreat of Alpine Glaciers. 2020
Work on Space Time Memory
Taking apart the Lamborghini Aventador for “Space Time Memory”. 2022
BTS for Cutup
A camera sliced apart for “CutUp”. 2019
Oefner behind the Lamborghini Miura
On the set of Disintegrating No. X. 2017
BTS for Infinite Moment in Time
The Set for the series “Infinite Moment in Time”. 2015
Oefner casting a copy of the Rosetta Stone
Making copies of the Rosetta Stone for “Momentum Archeology”. 2023
Nike Fragments
Process Overview for a Heisenberg Sculpture. 2021
Oefner making a copy of the Alexander Bust used in Momentum
Mold making for an Alexander the Great sculpture. 2023
Sketch for Space Time Memory
Inital Sketch For “Space Time Memory”. 2022