Duck and Cover, a widely promoted civil-defense strategy during the Cold War, was propagated in the United States as a recommended response in the event of nuclear attack. The point of departure for the research project of the same name by the class Artistic Action and Research is the »Fasan« facility, a so-called alternate command post of the Ministry for State Security in Werderthau/Ostrau. The bunker was one of 14 identical facilities in the former GDR, designed for 100 Stasi officials in the Halle district, almost all of them men. In the event of an »emergency«, it was intended to ensure the continuity of state power. Kept secret until the end of the GDR, the bunker was officially disguised as a horticultural facility and water-supply installation.

Taking the strong physical presence of the site as their point of departure, the participating artists develop different approaches to the themes and perspectives associated with it. In tracing its histories, they employ research-based, documentary, site-specific, and speculative methods. They uncover family histories and raise questions about notions of security and insecurity, isolation, surveillance, power structures, and politics of fear that produce a climate of latent threat—as well as the unfulfilled longing for community.

Artists: Sven Bergelt, Franz Herrgesell, Jason Hess, Inga Kruse, Tobias Kurpat, Christin Lahr, Hyeyun Lee, Leonardo Alejandro Marquez Gomez, Tina Metschke, Daisam Othman, Vico Rosenberg, Lukas Reiber, Alyona Shapovalova, Gabriele Siniscalco, Anastasia Vepreva

Supervised by Prof. Christin Lahr and Sven Bergelt

Photo 1: Work by Vico Rosenberg
Photo 2: Work by Hyeyun Lee
Photo 3: Work by Inga Kruse
Photo 4: Work by Anastasia Vepreva
Photo 5: Work by Tobias Kurpat
Photo 6: Work by Gabriele Siniscalco