untitled (Tradition verpflichtet)
2022
Synthetic fabrics
Variable dimensions (single scarf size: 150×17 cm)
For this work, four real slogans from real football scarves were then rearranged to form a ready-made poetry about the fear, desire, hatred and love of being born as individuals part of a system.
Translation into English:
Obliged (bond)* to tradition
nothing else
and never forget
but not our love**
*In German sich zu etwas zu verpflichten means to dedicate oneself, to give oneself an obligation to something. Following this translation, number and gender cannot be determined, as “verpflichtet” is the past participle of the verb “verpflichten”. Furthermore, “Tradition verpflichtet” can also be understood as an active phrase “Tradition obliges” although the lack of the article suggests, at least in the original scarf, a usage more akin to the one first indicated.
**This slogan is itself derived from a popular German song from the 1960s, Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht (Drafi Deutscher, 1965).
