§ Projekt Derniera §
Soldiers During the Time of Peace
C-Prints, 75×100 cm, Edition of 7, 1 AP
PROJEKT DERNIERA is the name of a conceptual art project for which I was invited to stay for an artist residence in Brno (population 385,000, 210km west of Prague), the second biggest city in the Czech Republic. The project was a “carte blanche,” with the only requisite that the images be realized in situ, on the premises of what used to be the national arms factory Zbrojovka Brno. To read the statement of this project (dedicated website and book pending), please click here.
The Zbrojovka Brno Arms Factory was founded in 1918 by the Czechoslovak Republic under the name of Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka. With Germany banned from producing military arms, the factory moved into the void and became one of the major exporters of small arms following World War I and during the Inter-War years. During World War II, under German occupation, it produced rifles for the Third Reich, most well-known of which being the Vz-24 (featured in this body of photographs). After the Communist takeover, the factory became a state-owned company, providing weapons to Soviet countries and 52 nations worldwide. During its heydays, 13,000 workers worked for this highly profitable enterprise. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the founding of the new Czech Republic, the factory became privatized and slowly deteriorated. It declared bankrupt in 2004 and was purchased by the Czech-Slovakian investment group J&T for a record price of 25 million euros, with the intention of revitalizing it into a giant shopping center. Because of its central place in the geography of the town (23 hectares of industrial complex right in the center of the town) and its history, the site has occupied a powerful place in the psyche of the Brno townspeople.
Soldiers During the Time of Peace was conceived with the help of the factory workers (the few that are left to finish production of remaining parts) and little girls from the city of Brno. The workers were asked to pose in their working clothes, and the little girls were asked to be brought by their parents in their Sunday best. I was interested in exploring the contrast that I saw between an almost stoic reserve in the older generation and a kind of blind optimism in the younger generation. Everywhere I went, I was always stunned by how little young people knew or cared about their nation’s very recent Communist past, or the fate of the people that are left behind. This is very similar to what I witness in the youthful capitalism of P.R. China, as if there is a willed collective amnesia, a desire to forget and get on with life. This rupture of the past and the future is particularly pronounced here. I was also interested in people’s corporal and psychic relationships with the weapons, especially since I had deliberately chosen people who are not in the habit of carrying or using guns. Lastly, I wanted to explore the relationship of the people with the space, with the site itself, which is charged with history as well as desolation. I must have taken close to 1000 preparatory photos on site, in an attempt to dissect, comprehend, and penetrate. Scars of Time is a small selection from these photographs.
Scars of Time (coming soon)
Chin-Chin Wu
Summer 2008
*The arms photographed were produced in the factory and loaned by BRNO RIFLES, s.r.o. for the production of this series. Special thanks to curator and organizer Vladimir Zidlicky, without whom this project would have never taken place, and towards whom I reserve only the utmost respect and gratitude, even though I have been nothing but trouble (thank you Vladimir!).
