18 portraits of inter-ideological criminals
People.
The multi media portrait piece relies on the medium of art to raise questions concerning evil in humans.
18 portaits show the faces of anonymized, inter-ideological and internationally active convicted criminals who have committed crimes against humanity.
Their anonymized life paths and careers – including the legal consequences thereof – are descibed in short texts. A separate chapter lists all of the known crimes, legal proceedings, and social and personal backgrounds of the 18 persons portrayed. The directory of sources employed makes it possible to verify all of the statements made.
The texts, originally written in German, have been translated into several languages and recorded as spoken word versions read by actors.
People.
The portrait series
Figure: 18 portraits, each
Untitled (panel number), screen print, acrylic, poplar plywood, 26 x 19.5 cm, one-off
All the persons portrayed are treated with the same importance and they are represented in roughly the same size. No clue is given as regards their social standing, their names are not cited. The images focus on the criminals’ faces. My working objective was to show an image of the portrayed that is neither likeable nor repugnant nor adulatory.
The visual means intend to prompt the viewers to examine their own standpoint – in a literal sense when contemplating the portraits, and in a metaphorical sense when entering into dialog with the images and texts.
People.
The book
Figure: A section of the book People.
Hand-sewn paperback with embossed title or sofcover with printed printed title, 28 x 21 cm, p. 164
Content:
Figures of all portraits
in 85% of the size of the original image panels and featuring many greatly enlarged details.
18 biographical notes
Descriptions of the individual careers with their respective legal consequences.
» Biographic Notes (excerpt)
Appendix
List of the individual crimes, charges, proceedings, judgements, motives for the crime, etc. of all the portrayed human rights abusers.
» Attachment
The texts originally written in German have been translated into and printed in the following languages:
Englishtranslated by Lisa Gardiner
Italian translated by Valentina L´Abbate and Niels Betori Diehl
Khmer translated by Chau Kim Heng
Mandarin translated by Danping He
Polish translated by Danuta Skurak-Althaus
Portuguese translated by Mity Watanabe
Spanish translated by Barbara Feldmann and Rocio Poza Guedes
Turkish
References
directory of all text sources used
» List of reference literature and sources
» For more on the book, see: Publications/People
People.
CD-ROM with readings of the “Biographical Notes” in seven languages
German read by Christoph Bachand Elettra de Salvo
English read by Jeff Burell
Italian read by Elettra de Salvo
Mandarin read by Sisouphan Thao-Tsang
Polish read by Edyta Jaworska
Portuguese read by David Monteiro
Turkish read by Güray Kismir
The duration of the readings in the respective languages range between 30 and 38 minutes each. A CD track list is included for each language.
» CD-Playlist
People.
Editions
Figure: size comparison of the two editions,
external dimensions when closed: 83 x 62 x 8 cm and 53 x 42 x 8 cm respectively
The special impact of the portrait series People. can be felt in particular when looking at the images while simultaneously hearing or reading the texts. As we attempt to ascribe a face to the crimes described, established notions prove to be of little help, the portraits and biographies do not seem to congruous.
The work does not answer the question of evil, raised here by artistic means, and so every viewer is prompted to determine their own standpoint.
In order to allow viewers to encounter the depicted on “an equal footing” as it were, I have oriented the sizes of the images shown by the head sizes of adult humans.
The spoken descriptions of the inconceivable acts committed increasingly absorb the listener as the narratives unfold. The thus conveyed knowledge soon overshadows the intimate formats of the portrait panels. Due to their size, the versions printed on paper are better able to stand up in face of the statements made. The recipients’ gaze tends to fall on them repeatedly until the end of a reading is reached.
Figures: People. 18 portraits, digital prints, paper formats 80 x 60 cm, or 50 x 40 cm
Digital prints, framed
Boxed edition, small
Box case
53 x 42 x 8 cm (external dimensions when closed), grey linnen cover, embossing
Cover
embossing, 50 x 40 cm
18 digital prints
very lightfast colors, age-resistant art print paper, paper format 50 x 40 cm each, image size around 40 x 30 cm each
Book
reproductions of the portraits in 84% of the panel print size, further figures, text languages: German, English, Italian, Khmer, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish
CD-ROM
readings of the Biographical Notes in seven languages: German, English, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish
Number of copies issued: unlimited, if required with personal dedication
Slipcase edition, large
Slipcase
83 x 62 x 8 cm (external dimensions when closed), grey linnen cover, embossing
Cover
embossing, 80 x 60 cm
18 digital prints
very lightfast colors, age-resistant art print paper, paper format 80 x 60 cm each, image size around 52 x 39 cm each
Book
reproductions of the portraits in 84% of the panel print size, further figures, text languages: German, English, Italian, Khmer, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish
CD-ROM
readings of the Biographical Notes in seven languages: German, English, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish
Edition of 18 (plus artist proofs)
