Tank Man
Client:
C/O Berlin
Concept & realisation:
Jonas Meyer
Curation:
Felix Hoffmann & Kathrin Schönegg
Scientific research:
Christin Müller
In early 2021, I had the honor of creating an eight-minute video art piece for C/O Berlin Foundation’s thematic exhibition “Send me an Image . From Postcards to Social Media” curated by Felix Hoffmann and Kathrin Schönegg.
The video — for which cultural scientist Christin Müller researched and compiled a wide variety of visual content — sheds light on the phenomenon of “Tank Man” (also known as “Unknown Rebel”), an unidentified Chinese man who stood in front of a column of tanks leaving Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, the day after the bloody suppression of student-led demonstrations.
While it is still forbidden to talk about these events in China, the Tank Man‘s iconic act of protest has led to countless press reports, visual interpretations, reenactments, memes, or even merchandise articles. In my video, I take a look at some of the most interesting publications of the last 30 years found by Christin Müller.
I am very grateful for the trust the curators have placed in me. And I want to thank the unknown Chinese man for his extraordinary civil and moral courage. To create an art piece nowadays dealing with his fight for freedom and democracy — at a time when some misguided people in Germany loudly chant “dictatorship” because they are supposed to wear a health-protecting mask — made me feel embarrassed and ashamed, especially towards him.
Tank Man
Client:
C/O Berlin
Concept & realisation:
Jonas Meyer
Curation:
Felix Hoffmann & Kathrin Schönegg
Scientific research:
Christin Müller
In early 2021, I had the honor of creating an eight-minute video art piece for C/O Berlin Foundation’s thematic exhibition “Send me an Image . From Postcards to Social Media” curated by Felix Hoffmann and Kathrin Schönegg.
The video — for which cultural scientist Christin Müller researched and compiled a wide variety of visual content — sheds light on the phenomenon of “Tank Man” (also known as “Unknown Rebel”), an unidentified Chinese man who stood in front of a column of tanks leaving Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, the day after the bloody suppression of student-led demonstrations.
While it is still forbidden to talk about these events in China, the Tank Man‘s iconic act of protest has led to countless press reports, visual interpretations, reenactments, memes, or even merchandise articles. In my video, I take a look at some of the most interesting publications of the last 30 years found by Christin Müller.
I am very grateful for the trust the curators have placed in me. And I want to thank the unknown Chinese man for his extraordinary civil and moral courage. To create an art piece nowadays dealing with his fight for freedom and democracy — at a time when some misguided people in Germany loudly chant “dictatorship” because they are supposed to wear a health-protecting mask — made me feel embarrassed and ashamed, especially towards him.