Minds of North Korea

"However he abused his long-suffering people, the fear they must now be feeling is surely real." (Taylor, 2011)

Kathleen Taylor, a neuroscientist and author of Brainwashing, claims that North Korea's control is "far from total" and the collapse of the government could be very rapid (Taylor, 2011). She concludes that "not all the tears are genuine" in mourning for Kim Jong-il, "but nor are they all fake", as he offered stability.

Taylor, Kathleen (2011) Has Kim Jong-il brainwashed North Koreans? [Online]
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/20/kim-jong-il-brainwashed-north-koreans
 [21/12/2011]

Locked-up memories

Søren Lose's exhibition Relicts, on GDR-era Berlin and collective memories, was closed. 

Excerpt from the Brandts website.

The city of Berlin has been exposed to an unusually high number of historical events and periods which have been decisive for world history. This is what Relicts is all about: Berlin as the setting for the East-West conflict of the cold war years, of Communism and Capitalism; of past and present; regime versus the individual and the concept of Utopia – the notion of an ideal world.The exhibition features works, such as Curtain, 2011, which refers to an interior decoration from the East-German Unity Party’s assembly hall in Palast der Republik in the former GDR. The work is reminiscent of a stage curtain with strong authentic institutional aesthetics but at the same time also anonymous and neutral. Wall, 2011, consisting of reconstructed fragments of the Berlin Wall, embodies the post-war period and the segregation of East and West. After a narrow claustrophobic passage comes the work Flag, 2011, referring to a wall decoration in the aforementioned assembly hall, where one can see black and white photos. They form collages from an era, a particular period, a particular place. The earlier work Monument for Amnesia, 2009, mimics the helter-skelter like fashion of beams found in a construction site. Furthermore, the monumental Ghost, 2011, a reconstruction of a now demolished Lenin monument from 1970, is presented. Lose's fragmented version does not appear glorifying but rather abstract and dystopian. Finally, a number of objects, texts, photos are exhibited in display cases. The reinterpretation of Lose’s sculptures functions as a focal point for the exhibition; the sculptures act as relicts, as historical and situational signifiers for the GDR’s cultural and political ideologies.

Relicts combines several mythological narratives and significant historical buildings to unveil the fictitious,constructed and complex layers of meaning within history.

Brandts [2011] Søren Lose: Relics. [Online]
 http://www.brandts.dk/en/current-exhibitions?option=com_exhibitions&view=article&id=89 [18/12/2011]
e-flux [2011] Søren Lose's Relics. [Online]
 http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/soren-loses-relicts/ [18/12/2011]

"Being there but not there": In a Lonely Place

Gregory Crewdson's photographs are "projections of a story" he might have heard, "trying to search beneath the surface of things for an unexpected sense of mystery or something that's secret" [Crewdson in the Loyal Library, 2011]. They capture "the moment of transition between before and after" where he uses twilight for its evocative effects (Crewdson in Helmore, 2006).

Crewdson creates his scenes similarly to a film production using sets. In his interview projected in his exhibition In a Lonely Time, he also speaks about photography of truth and photography of fiction, and how the he merges the two approaches together to create tensions between detachment and intimacy, of "being there but not there" [Crewdson in the Loyal Library, 2011].

Amie Siegel also works on the relationship of documentary and fiction, which I will explore and experiment for my Berliners' project to raise questions about the coexistence of objective and subjective histories. 

Apperture Foundation [2011] Gregory Crewdson. [Online]
 http://www.aperture.org/crewdson/ [19/12/2011]
Fletcher, Kenneth R. (2008) Gregory Crewdson's Epic Effects. [Online]
 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/gregory-crewdson.html# [19/12/2011]
Helmore, Edward (2006) The witching hour. [Online]
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2006/oct/04/photography [19/12/2011]
Royal Library, The [2011] Gregory Crewdson: In a Lonely Place. [Online]
 http://www.kb.dk/en/dia/udstillinger/crewdson.html [19/12/2011]