The pilot study for the Reading Hohenschönhausen project happened in the winter of 2017 during an artist residency in Berlin. I was continuing my research on carved graffiti and visited the Stasi prison memorial Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, where I saw markings on the walls and in books left by political prisoners from about 1982-1989. The markings deal with freedom, waiting, 80s culture, and reactions to imprisonment. The Reading Hohenschönhausen project re-envisions the entire prison as a text: a place with many authors, presented as an art installation, performance and publication.

Instead of proceeding with a coordinated art project, I enrolled with my research as a case study for a doctoral degree in Classical Archaeology at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. It is due to be finished in July 2024.

In November 2021 I returned to the prison memorial, gave a colloquium about my work and completed the catalog of wall markings, now roughly 300 in total. These anonymous markings present counter narratives to modern German history.

pilot study book open, 59.4 x 42 cm 2017
pilot study book open with calque fold-out, 59.4 x 42 cm 2017
pilot study book open with calque fold-out, 59.4 x 42 cm 2017
pilot study book open, 59.4 x 42 cm 2017