POOL UNTITLED

Through collaborative efforts with Weissensee students Mariama Sow, Dewally Riza, Dachil Sado, and Jan Robert, this project engages in a critical examination of the archive, aiming to deconstruct the contextualization of specific images that have become embedded within the prevailing dominant narrative. The project scrutinizes the recurrent depiction of a young man jumping in a swimming pool, often accompanied by articles and headlines associating criminality with immigrants in swimming pools. Such connections foster a constructed link serving a racist ideology that perpetuates harmful stereotypes about individuals deemed as the "other."

To counteract these pervasive narratives, the project endeavors to recontextualize the archived image by associating it with the discourse surrounding public spaces in Neukölln. This approach seeks to unravel the layers of meaning behind what we observe and how we perceive, consequently shaping our experiences within public spaces. Employing a fusion of computer-generated imagery and internet navigation experiences, complemented by auditory elements extracted from television reports, the project synthesizes these elements into a concise four-minute video. Through this video, the narrative surrounding the archived image is reconceptualized and rearticulated.

Central to the project's mission is a recognition of the archive as a potent tool of power and violence, which perpetuates and reproduces racist and colonial narratives within society. By challenging the existing archive's conventions and imbuing it with alternative perspectives, the project endeavors to disrupt the entrenched patterns of representation and expose the underlying mechanisms that reinforce discriminatory ideologies. Through this critical intervention, the project seeks to prompt a broader awareness and examination of the role archives play in shaping collective perceptions and narratives, encouraging a more inclusive and equitable understanding of society's diverse experiences