Artist Silke Witzsch commemorates the First World War and the nations involved in it with a flag display on Ludwigstrasse. From Odeonsplatz to the Siegestor, 38 flags are displayed in the order in which the nations entered the First World War. Silke Witzsch digitally overlays the flags with military camouflage patterns. With this artistic alienation, she addresses the fact that to this day, the political actions of nations are always about camouflaging, disguising or even making connections, interests or concerns ‘invisible’.
The art project “Camouflag” deals with the themes of memory and national authority and their representation. It performs concrete work of remembrance and refers to the historical significance of Ludwigstrasse as a parade avenue and in its function as a magnificent backdrop. By ‘overwriting’ the national flags with camouflage patterns, they are deprived of their representative effect as national symbols. The result is an artificial and artistic hybrid that, as the project name itself suggests, combines ‘camouflage’ and ‘flag’: the camouflage pattern and the national symbol.
Silke Witzsch, born in 1967 in Kempten.
