frame bg SW
frame bg SW linie2
back objects

Auf eine Landmine getreten (Stepped on a land mine)

milenarts-land-mine

The text Auf eine Landmine getreten (Stepped on a land mine) is written on a chair without legs, and the chair is placed on the ground next to a saucer to collect coins from passers-by.

Victims of land mines, including many children, are mostly from countries where they receive no support after the accident and so become beggars. When I saw this chair with no legs, which was of no chair-like use, it reminded me of the land mine victims’ fate.

These people are seen as no use, for they are offered no role of usefulness; a cruel fate in societies that attribute “usefulness” to the types of work requiring a strong, unimpaired body. So this chair writes its own fate, like these people often do, sitting on a piece of cardboard in our pedestrian zones where they wait for some coins.

Also our society reduces people who suffer to his/her usefulness, as we would categorize an object. Victims of the land mines are left with no other choice, either in their home country or in other areas of the world, than to sit idle and wait for alms. A chair without legs can also do this.

Home   Artwork   Installation   Photography   Painting - Mixed media   Drawing   Objects   Artist Statement   Bio - CV   Contact   Legal notice 

© Milena Kühnau 2014