‘Aktivist’ Digital Collage, 375 x 375 mm, 2023 Fine Art Pigment Print under Acrylic Glass, Black Aluminium Art Box
‘Activist’ is probably the most totalitarian-seeming image in the series so far. The composition consists only of visual set pieces of the socialist hero glorification in the mining industry and the German miners' song 'Vor dem Anfahren' from the Mansfelder Land from 1797. I tried to reduce the aggressive expression - not particularly successfully. Until I realized that the elements such as: danger of being buried, community, omnipresent death, uniforms, and (the built-up) ideal of serving the people are inherent in the theme and I have to accept this in order to complete the picture.
Mining is war against Earth - our home planet.
I have to admit that I have had little contact with the mining culture so far. But since the beginning of the 1990s at the latest, it has been clear that mining in Germany is a phased-out model - an industry with no future due to dwindling resources, high environmental pollution and the health consequences for employees. But politicians in eastern Germany in particular cling to the myth that fossil resources never run out - also because they have failed to develop sustainable alternatives and perspectives. Mining has caused irreparable damage to the landscape and has irrevocably destroyed autochthonous culture, especially in the opencast mining areas of East Germany. Mining companies criminally mislead the public when it comes to water extraction from ecosystems.
Ultimately, the glorification of fossil fuel industries can no longer be justified. This is not to deny the achievements, hardships and sacrifices made by miners and their families for centuries. The picture is dedicated to them.
