This project explores the militarisation of youth as a tool for ideological conditioning. In the GDR, hierarchical structures were ingrained from an early age—students wore rank insignia on their Pioneer blouses, while uniforms, neckerchiefs, and flag ceremonies reinforced conformity. This structured obedience extended into adolescence through the FDJ and GST, shaping submission and allegiance to the state. The NVA’s chevrons, central to this work, epitomise both military discipline and the authority of the GDR, revealing the visual language of ideological control.

This installation examines the interplay between military indoctrination, remembrance, and visual symbolism. Twenty-eight golden and silver textile chevrons, each mounted on an alligator clip and attached to a black wooden stalk, stand in formation. Beneath each V-shaped chevron, a GDR insignia badge is positioned, with the chevron inserted into a 5 cm-high used rifle shell case. These objects stand in formation within two shadow boxes (80 cm long × 24 cm wide × 44 cm high), positioned before chalkboards densely inscribed with the names of 140 individuals who died at the Berlin Wall. Their deaths—recorded in white chalk—serve as both memorial and critique, highlighting the contradictions of a state that proclaimed peace while enforcing militarisation.

Spotlights cast shadows from the chevrons, partially obscuring the inscriptions and rendering parts of the text illegible. This interplay of illumination and concealment underscores both the physical weight of the shells and the fragile impermanence of written memory, mirroring the ways in which historical narratives are controlled, erased, or reinterpreted over time. The objects were photographed in black and white and arranged into a composition of four pieces. There are seven matt prints, each measuring 40 × 40 cm,.

image underneath, set up of shadow boxes