The banality of the control

For once, the attraction of an exhibition in the banality of their images: the gun is in the strap holder of a border guard, or the wall, table made of aluminum in an empty cell. The screen, with a young lady, two officers rain protection, or the column of Military trucks on a military training ground.

With such pictures, the photographer Salvatore Vitale shows the banality of Good, if we may adapt the famous title of a book by Hannah Arendt. Because everything we see here, is intended for the production of safety in Switzerland. The camera of the photographer, the medium of documentation, for specification of machine, which brings the lofty Talk of security and the associated ideologies in a critical way, on the ground of reality.

Because the work of the publican is nothing more than a control of people. He is filming, taking photographs, scans, examined and interviewed. Even if he is working with high – tech equipment and everything via computer networks, compared to the real contact between the customs officer and the traveller there are panes of glass, and monitors.

Also for rescue operations in the super Puma it first of all must have a pilot's equipment, such as a picture from a helicopter shows. And even the weapons are, if you look at them closer, nothing more than things made of bent, stamped and cast metal.

A forest of images

the exhibition at The Fotostiftung in Winterthur is called "How to Secure a Country." It leads through a forest of large format photographs , standing on metal stands scattered around the room on the floor. The exhibition dispositif have learned to measure the curators, commercial Security, where mandie goods presents gernemit such partition walls.

The trail leads from the security dispositive of the duty to those of the army and the police. It insights into the factories, the promise of data security consequences, then robots, and drones come into view of the photographer, the photographed and finally the offices and monitors the meteorologists, and finally the weather have a big share in the safety of Switzerland. For each section, informative graphics, the statistical findings to the police work and to Migration, the illustrated setting and the photos in context.

The situation is changeable

Four years, the Research of Salvatore Vitale lasted, he got boxes and boxes to face, found signs, signals, lights, scanners, weapons, vehicles, and aircraft and uniforms. But that's exactly what the native-born Italian who lives since 15 years in Ticino and in Zurich was looking for.

Vitale, it's about nothing so much as the normality of the devices. Because you can't show that it is in our security to an abstract Size, but a very Concrete, tangible, and Made – this is quite changeable.

"How to Secure a Country": the fotostiftung in Winterthur, to 26. May.

(editing Tamedia)

Created: 04.03.2019, 10:56 PM