Further Media
Carsten Saeger’s works are characterized by the subjects of physicality, identity, and memory. The video shown here thematizes the construction of collective memory, using the human body as a medium. It is based on a performance for which the artist took the monuments commemorating the 1813 Battle of Leipzig as a starting point. He was inspired by reenactments as practiced by amateurs wearing historicizing clothing for the purpose of commemorating historical events. In Saeger’s video, performers dressed in black explore the monuments with their bodies step after step, investigating them physically and thus entering a corporeal relationship with the place and the act of commemoration. In this encounter, the fragility of life and the monumentality of that which is to be remembered become palpable. At the same time, through the living bodies, the present takes possession of the past.