CUBE 
26.03.04 - 29.05.04

Hiding in Plain Sight is an examination of two attempts to recast the world according to the oppositional ideologies of Stalinism and Nazism. The exhibition comprised two distinct elements: Bunker and Bild der Heimat (Picture of Home). Bunker is a photographic journey along the remains of Nazi Germany’s Atlantikwall, a system of bunkers and fortifications stretching from northern Norway to the Franco–Spanish Border. Photographed at twilight and illuminated by powerful theatrical lights, these crumbling monuments to military conceit are transformed into spectacular monoliths recalling mass political theatre, Aztec ruins and the lighting and set designs of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.

In marked contrast Bild Der Heimat (Picture of Home) is a collection of postcards which the socialist German Democratic Republic produced in their millions for holidaymakers living in a state where foreign travel was illegal. The GDR’s shopping centres, high rise blocks, leisure complexes and even billowing factory chimneys are showcased in a selection of motifs unimaginable to a western holiday maker. And yet these often dreary images were also consciously intended to make industrial progress glamorous and ‘sexy’ and to function as icons of socialist economic achievement.

The architectural rationale, which underpins both Bunker and Bild der Heimat, are pervasive ideologies. And yet, although the architectural vestiges of Nazism and Stalinism maintain a clear presence in Germany’s cities, and Europe’s countryside and coast, they are often invisible to the untrained eye. Erasmus Schroeter’s work makes it impossible for these ideologies to conceal themselves and to Hide in Plain Sight.  

Organised by Graeme Russell
Curated by Matthew Shaul