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Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies
chgs@umn.edu
612-624-0256
chgs@umn.edu
612-624-0256
Pier Marton
Artworks
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Pier Marton The Germans never imposed the word "JEW" on English speakers as Marton depicted it, but did use "JUDE" for German Jews, "JUIF" for French, and "JOOD" for Flemish and Dutch. In the English version the "W" looks very much like the Hebrew letter "shin," which is a symbol for the name of God. |
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Pier Marton Some of the visitors' comments reflect serious issues about prejudice and racism, and the memory of the Holocaust, while others may be banal. That visitors can write on the walls suggest that the installation is constantly evolving into something new, an artistic space for dialogue. |
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Pier Marton |
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Pier Marton A viewer's response suggests that it is not merely the question of the actions of the perpetrators, but also the inaction of the onlookers that makes such events happen. |
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Pier Marton Viewer responses. |
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Pier Marton Viewer responses. |
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Pier Marton The artist's mother, a Holocaust survivor, writes her response on the wall next to the deportation car. |
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Pier Marton Jew, 1985 Installation (detail) |
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Pier Marton The artist uses a simulated deportation car for viewers to see the film about the second generation. This idea came from a visit to Auschwitz, where he walked down a corridor and found himself after a sharp turn in a gas chamber. |
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Pier Marton This artistic work will never bring the viewer into the same situation as being a victim. However, seeing "Say I'm a Jew" in the close quarters of the box car, on seats that resemble mourning benches or standing, one develops a sense of claustrophobia and isolation of the victims. |
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Pier Marton Jew - Responses, 1985 Installation |
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Pier Marton Jew, 1985 Installation |
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Pier Marton Jew - Responses, 1985 Installation (detail) |
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Pier Marton Jew - Responses, 1985 Installation (detail) |
Artist Statement
AFTER ALL (50 years later)
". . . only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's habitation be safely built." - Bertrand Russell, 1923
Me too, I would rather not look.
Too much familiarity, my grandmother was
murdered.
In my body. Zyklon gas was an improved
form of killing.
Do I, like a drunk pleading to forget, engage with the digital modernity? TV brain lures with stories and theories, sensation when there is none.
The body is missing. I work on TV,
taming it before it lulls me. Each cut, a wake to awake.
It takes repetition, the killing was repeated.
Is repeated. Over.
- Pier Marton, 5754/1994
Teaching Applications
Questions
- Most Holocaust survivors survived because of luck. How would you think this influences the thinking of their children?
- In some cases, parents lost their first-born children in the death camps or ghettos. How would such events relate to child-rearing practices for those born after the war?
- Some Jews in this film are afraid of their Jewishness. Why?
- One of the last interviewees says "we are now all potential victims." Why does he say this and what does it mean? Relate this to other events in the world now.
- During the film, some sarcastic references are made about "Jewish traits" mainly as a means of showing foolishness about prejudice and racism. Examine some of the ideas presented and how you feel about these concepts.
