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1991, two bullet holes at face level through the glass front across
from the Museum in Frankfurt.
It is a well-known fact that shots are fired in Frankfurt now and
again of which the majority occurs in the train station area. Museums
and other educational institutes were not targets so far. At least not
until September 1991. In the early morning hours of September 12, 1999
police forces hermetically sealed off the passage between Nikolai Church
and Historical Museum, a uniformed sharp shooter shouldered, aimed and
fired two shots. Since then, two bullet holes are located at an exactly
calculated distance from each other at face height. If one stands behind
one of the window panes (area is not open to the public) one can well
imagine for a few moments that the horizontal line of the shots might
easily have run right through his own forehead before hitting the back
wall at a right angle. A thought which momentarily generates a very
extensive feeling of existence. Ballistic curves like that continuously
draw short-lived curves and lines through empty space around the globe
and often meet moving targets in their course. Ottmar Hörl wrote the
script for this event, a sculpture and photography artist who -
personally - is a person of disarming anti-militancy, his artistic
concepts, however, recurrently contain violent elements. The two
shots fired in the dawn intentionally structured the room (if such
thoughts may be permitted for a moment). Two parallel lines of highest
energy aimed at a 90 degree angle at glass and wall - they were real
and physically existent if for only for split seconds to then immediately
become imaginary lines. That is to an extent the way of interpretation
Hörl himself favors. There is another which places political imagery
in the foreground rather than formal aspects - and it seems directly
plausible. Two shots at face height fired at the forefront of a museum
are as much a decisive as coquettish comment to the request - Art in
Public - they are consent and denial at the same time. And they are
last words (speechless but distinct) about politics which calculate
present art primarily as a factor of benefit in passing for the image
of the service provider's location to then turn around and decorate
the places and parks of the cities almost without exception with
mediocre but also material and cost intensive artistic products as
you would decorate a parlor with all kinds of knick-knacks. But this
type of art has been capable of winning a majority. Two shots at face
height therefore definitely represent a cultural political situation.
On a side note, they also were inexpensive as well as consuming very
little material.
Manfred E. Schuchmann (1991)
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