The Subjective Object. Anna-Sophie Springer (Ed.) K.Verlag.

Posted in Exhibitions, photography, politics on September 7th, 2012
Tags: , , , , ,




The Subjective Object, Anna-Sophie Springer (Ed.), published by K Verlag.

THE SUBJECTIVE OBJECT engages with the controversial site of the ethnographic museum and the role of the archive. In particular, the 1920’s photographic archive of the indigenous people of India by the German physical anthropologist and racist theorist Egon von Eickstedt (1892–1965) serves as a case study for an investigation into the role of historical artifacts in light of contemporary political situations. The nine interviews with curators, artists, anthropologists, and social workers provide the core of the book actively discussing the complicated issues around the archive’s function in producing knowledge. An annotated thread of images serves as a critical apparatus addressing the visual history of ethnographic display and classification practices—both in the scientific field as well as the cultural field at large. Questioning the assumption that the archive presents the “fact” of the “Other,” three literary texts counterpoint the inherent fantasies within scientific research. Just as the book begins with an archive—the Eickstedt photos—the book ends with a new archive—photos of the exhibition “The Subjective Object—(Re)Appropriating Anthropological Images” at the GRASSI Ethnographic Museum of Leipzig—illustrating the project’s desire to not only engage with the history of display but also to propose a future of display strategies and social engagement.

INTERVIEWS WITH: Carola Krebs, Meghnath, Theo Rathgeber, Nora Sternfeld, Alexandra Karentzos, Christopher Pinney, Philip Scheffner, Britta Lange, Jesko Fezer + Raqs Media Collective
LITERARY TEXTS BY: Franz Kafka, Brion Gysin + Suzan-Lori Parks
DESIGN BY: Timm Häneke
LANGUAGE: German and English

D 10 €

Buy it