2020/21: performative participatory installation. Renate Burger / AMÚR Wien in cooperation with Elisabeth Handl / 1000AND1
- or THE PERFECT RECIPE FOR A SMART BIOMETRIC KEY
FINGERPRINTS ARE THE IMPRINT AND EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY - EVERYONE LEAVES TRACES AND FINGERPRINTS THROUGH ACTIONS AND NON-ACTIONS. Whether we welcome or reject the other, the foreign which traces/fingerprints can pass, which of them are excluded, real and mental borders decide. The performative participatory installation questions the traces we leave behind, reveals their metamorphosis through the contribution of others and the denial of aspects of our historical presence through social norms, framework conditions or personal actions.
The centuries-old tradition of the art of sugar embossing, masterfully practiced by the Viennese from the Baroque to the Biedermeier period, merges with the tradition of “Schluckbilder” (swallowing pictures). They represent printed wafers which were widely used from the 18th to the 20th century as spiritual medicine for humans and animals to cure various ailments. It creates access to what we reveal, make accessible or incorporate through our fingerprints/traces.
Image credit: Elisabeth Handl