Lilienstraße

2024–

DEADR_2024_FS
(WIR SIND JETZT AN EINEM SCHEIDEWEG. KRIEG ODER FRIEDEN.)
* Translated from German: "We are at a crossroads. War or peace."
Altlandsberg, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

The Lilienstraße (a generic name for a street in Germany) project aims to create an unbiased collection of societal positions and opinions in Germany and beyond, starting in 2024. Primarily, people in the state of Brandenburg who are neither politicians nor public opinion leaders are asked for their views. In collaboration with the artist, a brief and concise formulation that reflects the position of the depicted person is being developed in a dialogical format. This provides an opportunity for those who feel underrepresented in the current political agenda to express themselves and their milieu.

On a visual and textual level, the project explores how the political versus private image of a citizen is formed, and what visually constitutes the image of a homo politicus. It examines how individual or group staging, the inclusion of a quote as text in/on the image, or the deliberate choice of background influences perception. The opinion images will likely be categorized into the following categories: the Angry, the Worried, the Optimistic, the Secure, the Undecided, and the Enraged.

The idea for the project is inspired by the historical work of the notable German photographer August Sander (1876–1964) and the famous exhibition The Family of Man (1955, New York) by art historian Edward Steichen. Theoretically, the project draws on Horst Bredekamp's Theory of Bildakt (2007) and Wolfgang Kemp's Reception Aesthetics approach (1991).

The project began shortly before the 2024 European elections and is intended to continue over a longer period. Participation in the project is free of charge for all participants.

Images from the photographic series can also be viewed as on Instagram as highlights or as posts.

❏ Download a PDF with a German translation

DERNR_2024_LNAX
(AUS DEM SCHOCK RAUS. FRUST ZUM KAMPF NUTZEN.)
* Translated from German: "Shake off the shock. Use frustration for the fight."
Bernau, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

DEWDZ_2024_E
(MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO. GEMEINSINN STÄRKEN.)
* Translated from German: "A healthy mind in a healthy body. Strengthen the sense of community."
Wandlitz, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

DEWDZ_2024_AMM
(EINE WELT, EINE FAMILIE. DIVERS, UND DOCH VEREINT.)
* Translated from German: "One world, one family. Diverse, yet united."
Wandlitz, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

DEADR_2024_LS
(ES GIBT KEIN LEBEWESEN, DAS SO WISSENTLICH SELBSTZERSTÖRERISCH IST WIE DER MENSCH.)
* Translated from German: "There is no living being that is as knowingly self-destructive as humans."
Altlandsberg, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

DERNR_2024_NC
(LEBT WIE IHR SEID UND LIEBT WEN IHR WOLLT.)
* Translated from German: "Live as you are and love whom you want."
Bernau, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

DEWER_2024_M
(MINDERWERTIGKEITSGEFÜHL HERRSCHT. ANGST ZERSTÖRT TRÄUME.)
* Translated from German: "Inferiority complex rules. Fear destroys dreams."
Werneuchen, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

DERNR_2024_AAR
(SYMPATHIEN FÜR RECHTSEXTREME MACHEN UNS SORGEN.)
* Translated from German: "Sympathies for right-wing extremists worry us."
Bernau, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

DEWEU_2024_SM
(NICHT VON DER POLITIK AUSGENUTZT WERDEN.)
* Translated from German: "Don't be exploited by politics."
Werneuchen, Brandenburg, Germany
2024

DEWEU_2024_BL
("DER FRIEDEN IST NICHT ALLES, ABER ALLES IST OHNE DEN FRIEDEN NICHTS." – WB)
* Translated from German: "Peace is not everything, but without peace, everything is nothing." (Willy Brandt)
Werneuchen, Brandenburg, Germany
2024