Witness
We are all witness to our times.
.we are aL witneS to our times.
Core Questions
In very banal terms: who are we, where do we come from – and above all – where are we going? What are the issues of our time that we need to address? How can art help to stimulate discussion and foster our positive development as a society? What connects us, and what separates us? How do we create a paradigm shift?
WITNESS TO OUR TIMES
(since 2019, ongoing)
This series focuses on pressing issues of our time. It serves both as a mirror and a documentation. Since some of our problems are global and collective, seven recurring forms, the Eye-Witnesses, represent humanity.
They bear witness to problems such as climate change, violence and migration, document the current state of knowledge, outlast thousands of years through the choice of ceramic and connect the present with subsequent generations (and archaeologists). Quotes, graphics and tables from the current IPCC reports, newspaper reports, and findings from online research cite facts and data.
MARGINAL MATTERS
(since 2010, ongoing)
How does our society, how do we as people deal with marginalised people and groups? An infinite number of stories happen simultaneously in public spaces, we are witness to so many fates if we care to look. Every person we meet, even if only in passing, carries their story with them – are we curious to learn about them or do we form a picture in our minds? Do we make a judgement? Are we trained to create marginality, even when it doesn’t exist? How does our perception change the reality of the moment?
I have been interested in exploring monochrome in painting since the beginning of the series in 2010. Apart from that, I find it intriguing to imitate a discipline with a different technique and thus make the boundaries disappear.
LAST BORDER
2024 Doris Dittrich & Le Monsieur Flash
If we haven’t experienced it first-hand, we can hardly imagine what it means to set off into the complete unknown with only an uncertain dream in front of us, leaving behind all that is familiar, perhaps forever, taking great risks for an idealised life in Europe that may not be possible upon arrival.
An escape is not a journey. An escape is not a journey. What does it do to us, living in this dream, to see waves of people crashing at our borders and streams of people travelling through our cities and countries? How do we as a society deal with those who stay?
There is not just one answer to the question of what the living conditions of these human beings are like before, during and after their flight: even the largest stream consists of drops of water, a human stream of individual fates.
French photographer Le Monsieur Flash didn’t want to rely on news and reports so in 2016 he spent ten days in the jungle of Calais, France’s most desolate refugee camp at the time, to witness the situation for himself. The 10,000 refugees living there were stranded at Europe’s Last Border on their way to England.
The camp was forcibly dissolved during Le Monsieur Flash’s presence, in the dead of winter.
In a first artistic collaboration, we are creating a permanent tribute to the people of the Jungle of Calais and paying homage to all who have been, are or will be forced to flee.
