Transforming data into information at Trumer Brewery
Künstlerhaus Salzburg  2011

In 2011, I got permission to paint the old ice rink of the Trumer Brewery in Salzburg. I wanted to transform it into a modern-day grotto. Before that, I spent several years researching and collecting expressions related to economics, military & politics, family, and pornography. Being an economics graduate, I've always been fascinated by the metaphorical language used to understand the economy better. Metaphors, as explained by Lakoff and Johnson, are crucial in shaping our understanding of abstract economic concepts. New expressions emerge every day. One significant compilation I made was a word list while studying the Wikileaks Iraq War Logs. Another was the 2012 publication by American authorities of 374 keywords for internet threat detection, covering areas such as infrastructure security, terrorism, and cybersecurity. This publication painted a dark picture of a world under constant surveillance, creating a sense of worry. Since 2010, I've been deeply engrossed in binge-watching crime documentaries. They often depict seemingly perfect families destroyed by serious crimes, revealing hidden truths and exposing the illusion of perfection. I meticulously documented the stereotypical terms used to describe these ideal families initially. Additionally, I compiled lists of metaphors describing sexuality, including acts like intercourse and masturbation. For instance, I used food-related terms describing sexuality in one installation. One of my favorite themes is group photos. I have a large collection acquired from various flea markets worldwide. I'm particularly interested in groups representing families, company outings, union meetings, and the military, as each individual is also part of a community. Starting from these anonymous photos, I create drawings and then detailed cut-outs consisting of hundreds of cuts. In the second part, I use these cut fragments and draw them all to the same size on A3 paper to standardize them, assigning each a piece of information from my lists. For family, I use the color purple, for economics, black; for military, green, and for pornography, pink. Then, I paint these into perfectly organized grids, creating a hieroglyphic system of our time.