Praise famous men again
(Eurostyle Evidence)
Praise famous
men again
(Eurostyle Evidence)
Site-specific intervention, performance and publication
The work ‚Praise famous men again(Eurostyle Evidence)‘ is based on a collection of corporate brochures that I obtained by ordering them online from various marketing departments. I appropriated several images from these brochures, which reinforced bias and tropes in corporate photography, by rephotographing them.
These images reveal a gendered approach to corporate photography, with men’s hands shown operating technical instruments or pointing toward things, often in front of women who are portrayed as passive bystanders. Women’s hands, on the other hand, are often shown in classically gendered roles such as cleaning.
installation view, 8m, ‚Potent Group Show Titles‘, Ultrachrome K3 prints and intervention, 19 x 10,5 cm x 15 cm & 4 x 20 cm x 30 cm, Kaiserstraße, Offenbach am Main (DE), 2016
Appropriated images from company brochures are displayed in the unused kitchen of a former bank building.
Presented in original Eurostyle frame wrappers, they are placed on top of abstract color surfaces that quote the covers of different editions of the book „Let us now praise famous men“ by Walker Evans and James Agee. Upon closer inspection, the printing grid of the images becomes visible.
The kitchen itself becomes a part of the artwork. Polished to a high-gloss finish by me it reveals every crack where dirt could be hiding.
A company ethics guide from a major pharmaceutical company and a dead fly, as found in the room, are also displayed as part of the installation. The cardboard corners that protected the frames during transport now frame the dirt under the sink.
Spread of ‚Praise famous men again‘, 16 pages, A4, self published, 2019