mirror barricade

The „Regeldrama“, also known as the Doctrine classique, is a theatre standard for drama making during the French Classical period in the 17th century, which continued to be felt in the 19th century. The origin is much older: Poet and critic Horace also demanded a division of the drama into five acts, which is observed in this photographic edit. Subject is a political protest against fascists in Dortmund, Germany in 2016.

Act I, “Exposition” – A barrier made of inflatable cubes, made of reflectant aluminium foil. The social sculpture, conceived by artist group „Tools for Action“, is meant to reflect the image and intent of whoever it is facing.
Act II, “Complication” – A policeman looking like the mission commander in Space Odyssey, a news team, a struggle in the background. In this multi-layered photgraph, conflict is introduced into the system.
Act III, “Peripetie” – reversal of circumstances, climax. Police deemed the cubes as „Schutzbewaffnung“, roughly translated as „protection-weapon“ and decided to shut down the protest.
Act IV, “Retardation” – the slow down. The clashing parties retreat.
Act V, “Dénouement” – catastrophy, catharsis – death of the sculpture by knife. The overall background faintly hints at the colors of the national flag of Germany: Black, red and „gold“.