Kazerne 1940 - 1945

This small black and white photograph of a barracks, or Kazerne, by an anonymous artist, is mounted in a photo album. The process of sticking the print onto the greyish-blue page is part of the art itself, it turns the document into something more like a drawing. The palette is constrained, grey on grey, yet the eye dances between the tones. Light reflects off the surface of the snow, but the building absorbs it. See how the photographer has left an ‘X’ on one of the buildings, almost like a signature. This dark mark draws the eye in, and we are forced to consider the texture of the brickwork, the arrangement of windows, the traces of human occupation. The album page itself is damaged; small semi-circular tears remain where previous photographs have been removed. This work seems to relate to the work of Gerhard Richter, who painted from found photographs, and also to the work of the Situationist artists, who were interested in how the urban environment shapes our experience. Ultimately the piece embraces ambiguity, inviting multiple interpretations over fixed meanings.