Herschel and Gretel
Outdoor installation with Patricia Pisani
Two live-size figures, turned from the example of traditional Christmas figures from the Erzgebirge, portraying a »German maid«, with blonde plaits, wearing a blue dress, together with an orthodox Jew with long temple curls wearing a black suit. Joined in an image built of contrasts, they were positioned in Hamburg, facing up a blank con-crete wall. An odd couple. But, as the title suggests, they belong to each other, relating to an old German folk-tale and recent German history. To resolve their paralysis in facing the insuperable border rampart, a coin is needed. Then, the figures start to move and bow down before the monument. Herschel and Gretel is an ironic play with borders and walls, which become charged with contradictory history and religious rituals and thereby adopt the character of a monument. (Ch.B.)
Victor Kégli - born 1964 in Budapest, lives in Berlin
