BURKHARD SCHITTNY, Fineart

dogtags info

DOG TAGS

LEGACY PROJECTS 2012

Stainless steel / Oak frame / 31 x 22 cm (12 x 9 in) / Series of 8 unique works / Wall-mounted

INTRODUCTION
The work consists of eight hand-embossed stainless-steel plates whose text reproduces Das Lied der Deutschen (Deutschlandlied) in an altered form. Following the principle of the children’s song Drei Chinesen mit dem Kontrabass (Three Chinese with a Double Bass), widely known throughout the German-speaking world, each of the eight versions replaces all vowels with a single vowel. The materiality of the plates refers to military identification tags (dog tags).

The playful alteration of the song, whose third stanza is today Germany’s national anthem, stands in marked contrast to this military reference. The use of a children’s song lends the work a disquieting lightness while also establishing a connection to the young, in some cases barely adult, people who went to war under the influence of National Socialist ideology and many of whom lost their lives. Dog Tags thus addresses the tension between national identity, ideological conditioning, and military violence.

VERSIONS
Das Lad dar Datschan / Des Led der Detschen / Dis Lid dir Ditschin / Dos Lod dor Dotschon / Dus Lud dur Dutschun / Däs Läd där Dätschän / Dös Löd dör Dötschön / Düs Lüd dür Dütschün