Regina Schmeken shows places of pain and tears. But only those where traces exist of the violence committed there. So she has not shown directly but “simply” by the “remains” in twelve places where crimes have recently been committed by the National Socialist Underground (NSU). These pictures are impressive because they imply that the terror is still there but hidden. Neither the murderers nor the victims are visible. However the effect is all the more staggering because of these large black and white photographs. Schmeken’s works are accompanied by texts which tell the story of the NSU and its crimes. Annette Ramelsberger, a reporter with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” recalls that the scenes of terror and tears were accompanied by the secret joy of the murderous authors of the bomb attacks. This book does not claim to be simply an account but a way to encourage a reaction in the viewers of such photographs by a rare artist whose works are visible, among others at MoMA in New York and at the “Pinakothek der Moderne” in Munich.
Jean-Paul Gavard-Perret
Jean-Paul Gavard-Perret is a poet, critic and lecturer in communications at the Université de Savoie, in France.
Regina Schmeken, Blutiger Boden. Die Tatorte des NSU
Published by Hatje Cantz, Berlin
35€
http://www.hatjecantz.de/
