SACRED SILENCE1

SACRED SILENCE

SACRED SILENCE1

SACRED SILENCE

2040 miniature gallows, burnt wood,
graduate exhibition
Dresden Academy of Fine Arts
July – September 2021

SACRED SILENCE

The installation and performance sacred silence is devoted to the subject of death sentences and the dealing with death. The exhibition consisted of 2040 miniature gallows built of MDF and burned. The charred gallows were set up to a (military) formation in the exhibition space.
In the run of the exhibition the arrangements of the gallows were changed again and again in the frame of a performance. Different formations were created, but also larger mounts to which the objects were piled up. Allowing for associations of military formations and mountains of corpses, the arrangements then remained until the next performance.
The sheer mass of gallows reveals the banality and arbitrariness hidden behind the principle of punishment, including death penalty. The sorting, playing, throwing away, and arranging that was practiced during the performance refers to male read persons re-enacting various wars and battles with tin soldiers. The terse handling of the objects represents the violence that has run through our society for centuries. The installation reflects the feeling of empowerment towards other living beings, especially humans and the principle of taking or being able to take other people’s lives.
Parallel to the installation, gallow-building kits were produced, based on toy sets for assembly. These sets could be purchased during the exhibition.