Paper Theaters For Historical projection

German Childhood 1930

April 2011, Center For Book Arts, NYC

From exhibition catalog:

In Paper Theaters for Historical Projection: German Childhood 1930, I reanimate the tradition of the German Kinder Theater, which arose in the 19th century and enjoyed popularity in the period defined by the rise of National Socialism. These theaters served as pedagogical tools for children, allowing them to stage in miniature paper cutouts sophisticated historical pageants and popular literary works.

My theaters explore the legacy of ideologies of race, blood, and nation linked to the paper dramas staged by children. In doing so, I reanimate German historic childhood, grappling with its troubled past in the present, and producing a new hybrid theater in miniature that is part print, part electronic media.

Stills and Video Documentation:

accordion books

In conjunction with the exhibition, I produced a series of limited edition double-sided accordion books expanding the narrative elements of the work with related imagery.