I received some new stereoscopic glass positives made during the First World War, more than a hundred years ago. But again, they could also depict motifs from the current war in Ukraine, and two could even be the title motifs for my planned exhibition.
I came up with the title “Sleeping Ghosts” because the images from the First World War and the Ukraine are very similar, and because I believe that mankind has apparently learnt nothing in the last 100 years when it comes to resolving conflicts – the war in Europe has just been sleeping.
It is not our merit but only our luck that we were born on the good side of the Mediterranean Sea. Wars, in which our systems had been involved, had been over 70 years or over 10.000km away from us. We vote for strong borders and build up inhuman border controls to keep the sight of millions of refugees, death, and human misery away from us. And now, after being in Asia and Africa, war is coming home to Europe. My parents were born and forever traumatised in WWII. And now, at the end of their lives, exactly on their 60th wedding anniversary, the war, the memories, and the panic of my parents are back.
To deal with this artistically, I went in search of stereoscopic images showing the victims of the First World War. But in such a way that at first glance one might think that the people depicted were just sleeping.
Auf den Titel “Sleeping Ghosts” bin ich gekommen, weil sich die Bilder aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg und aus der Ukraine sehr ähneln und ich deshalb die These aufstelle, dass die Menschen in den letzten 100 Jahren anscheinend nichts gelernt haben, was die Lösung von Konflikten angeht – der Krieg in Europa hat nur geschlafen.
Es ist nicht unser Verdienst, sondern nur unser Glück, dass wir auf der guten Seite des Mittelmeers geboren wurden. Kriege, in die unsere Systeme verwickelt waren, sind über 70 Jahre oder über 10.000km von uns entfernt (gewesen). Wir stimmen für starke Grenzen und bauen unmenschliche Grenzkontrollen auf, um den Anblick von Millionen von Flüchtlingen, von Tod und menschlichem Elend fernzuhalten. Und jetzt, nach Asien und Afrika, kommt der Krieg nach Hause, nach Europa. Meine Eltern wurden im Zweiten Weltkrieg geboren und für immer traumatisiert. Am Ende ihres Lebens, genau an ihrem 60. Hochzeitstag, sind der Krieg, die Erinnerungen und die Panik meiner Eltern wieder da.
Um dies künstlerisch zu verarbeiten, habe ich mich auf die Suche nach Stereoskopien gemacht, die Opfer des Ersten Weltkrieges zeigen. Allerdings so, dass man auf den ersten Blick meinen könnte, die abgebildeten Menschen würden nur schlafen.
More via
SLEEPING GHOSTS I at MIND.WORK
ReMIND.WORK at INSTAGRAM
Whow. I was born in the US, shortly before Pearl Harbor brought the US into WW II and I have only fragmentary memories of the period, windows blacked out in our New York City apartment stair well, ships in the Hudson River firing salutes on VE day, and my father pointing out a building at Columbia that was part of the Manhattan Project (after the bombs were dropped). In many ways, I suspect that WW I was worse as it depended much more on massed troops fighting directly than the long distance attacks of bombers, but the effects on civilians were more widespread. Thank you for preserving and sharing these. Perhaps if more people shared the horror, there would be less of it.
Hi John, thank you for your kind words and sharing your memories. It is a miracle, that the stereoscopies survived such a long time and two heavy wars. When I will realize my idear of an exhibition I will give you a note Best regards from Germany, Martin
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