Benni (26)
Occupation: Consultalt
Outlook: likes Germany, loves Spain & France
Says: “I feel ashamed for my countrymen when I see them on holidays.”
Hates: the German flag
Britta (23)
Occupation: accountant
Can't imagine: living anywhere else than in Germany.
Outlook: very optimistic
Believes: that Germany is on a good path
Gerhard (53)
Occupation: Taxi driver
Outlook: has always been very skeptical
Loves: the German football team
Igor (61)
Occupation: picking up & returning bottles
Mother country: Romania
Outlook: it's hard without money, but easier in Germany than elsewhere
Says: “I don't know what to say...”
Isabell & Ömer (18 & 20)
Occupation: Apprentice & Barber
Outlook: Germany is a great place for young people.
Remember: The Football World Cup – “our best summer ever”
Joshua (12)
Occupation: schoolboy
Outlook: doesn't know what optimism is
Hates: long school days
Maria (57)
Occupation: owner of perfumery
Outlook: always optimistic - “that's my secret”
Loves: Cologne & her dogs
Deplores: the bad weather, “that's all!”
Patrick (26)
Occupation: skateboarder
Outlook: “I'm optimistic, I love Germany!”
Says: “most people lack political awareness...”
Hates: that Germans have no sense of fashion
Thomas (28)
Occupation: Graffiti sprayer
Outlook: doesn't think categories of “nations”
Loves: graffiti, BMX
Hates: boundaries
The success of the 2006 Football World Championship triggered a wave of appraisal of the "new" Germans. Not only was this troubled nation able to put on a smiling face, there was something distinctly new about the host. The image - and the self-image. The foreign visitors were thrilled by the warmth they felt in Fußball-Deutschland, and the international press was enthused by the fact that this new generation was finally able to show its colours again - proudly, yet peacefully.
Yet what exactly is a nation's self image? Where can I find it? In a museum? Is it locked up in some government-room or a statistic value worked out by a hundred scholars based on two years of research? Do those people you find on the street subscribe to such a thing? There's of course nothing more artificial and constructed than such a concept. Go out on the street and ask ten people - you'll get ten different answers. So I figured, why not ask them?
The basic assumption here is that such feelings of national scope are private experiences. Whether or not a person is optimistic depends on an infinite number of facts ranging from age, profession or origin to personality traits. The following photos should underline this very fact. The manner in which the people present themselves on the pictures shows what they think about their feelings towards their mother country. As a matter of fact, their feelings towards it reflect nothing more than their general outlook on life. This is no attempt to doubt general tendencies, but a reminder of the individual nature of "feelings".
NOTES:
(from the artist's notes)
Their body language reflects how they feel.
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