security station
site specific installation, 15 digital photos (21cm x 29cm), Sound, 2003.
> 29.01-01.02.2004
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Security station is a
site-specific installation that took place in a bunker built during the Second
World War by the National Socialist army to protect its soldiers.
In the first room of the bunker 15 digital photos of different objects normally
associated with safety (such as plasters, a life buoy, a muzzle etc.) were
displayed. These objects were juxtaposed with the sound of airport announcements
about security regulations at the airport. By extracting these familiar elements
from their everyday context and re-contextualising them in the bunker, I wanted
to draw attention to the ambiguous nature of ‘security’:
how protection can disguise dangers, and how security notices are not only
a means of guidance, but also a form of nannying. These seemingly 'harmless'
objects and announcements placed within the confines of the bunker, which
serves as a reminder of the control imposed by and on the soldiers, change
character and create for the viewer the feeling of safety as discomfort.