OLAF BREUNING

focus

BOX PEOPLE

The Centra d’ARt Contemporain, La Chapelle du Geneteil was an old church. It was a beautiful exhibition space but rather distinctive. I thought about what I could do in such a unique environment. A few years ago, I shot a photograph called “Can Someone Tell Us Why We Are Here?”, this was the perfect approach for the space. Religion does answer the “why” question with customized bites for the human mind, easy to make sense of the unknown. It makes people come together, transform them into a uniform community, and closes the doors for possible other questions and answers. It makes life easier. In the photograph, the “big question” was written on the bodies of the box people. In the church, they sit there and follow the lead. I am not a religious person, and I feel uncomfortable when many people think the same thing. For me, life is a constant readjusting to its changing circumstances and not a time freeze like many religions propose. However, “Box People” can be read in many ways. Finally, we are social animals and depend on each other; we will always follow more or less the same goals and ask the same questions.

Box People, 2010, Cardboard boxes, paper bags, plaster, Dimensions variable

Making the arms and leggs out of plaster.

Can Someone Tell Us Why We Are Here?, 2006, C-Print, 6 Ed. + 2 AP: 122 x 155 cm (48 x 61 in.)