2023, edition of 11, gel transfer, acrylic, oil paint, wax, charcoal, shellac ink and lead, single sheet binding and loose pages.
Dimensions: 14 x 8.5 x 1 inch or 21 x 35 x 2.5 cm
Institutional collectors: Herzog August Bibliothek, The Getty Research Institute, Tufts University, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Aga Khan Documentation Center M.I.T., University of Delaware, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
The German word “Brandstifter” describes someone who intentionally or negligently ignites a fire. The sound of tearing off the unbound pages resembles that of a striking match. A fire can also be caused verbally by fueling people's mind to inflict harm or to wage wars.
The dreamlike, haunting images of soldiers feel like looking at relics of timeless wars. Instead of keeping acts of war a mystery cult experience - contrary to the Mysteria, the “Mouth Closed Festival” of the ancient mediterranean world where you were not allowed to speak under penalty of death, here the pictures show soldiers forcing their way out of the depicted mouths. The need to be seen and heard either as a reminder of atrocities or again as a fire starter.
Using lead as material relates to the inbetween, shapeshifting – since lead is considered a solid metal but is so soft that it bends its shape when touching it, reminding us that nothing is static.
Who am I? What forces drive me that I so relentlessly wage wars, dismiss lives, to satisfy what? Is it my need to fulfill every wish, every whim? Or am I occupied by this bottomless hunger that swallows each and everything that crosses my way. Bigger, larger, higher – stretch out and claim as much as I can. Anything I can slap a price tag on. Slap, slap, slap – Slap to get it, slap to sell it. Slap, slap, slap. Bulldoze roads, deprive whole areas, dig craters into planets, boldly go. Air rights, human rights, free speech. Turn shit into gold – an illusion I relentlessly use again and again. [excerpt]
Quote by Bertholt Brecht.
First comes eating and then comes morality.