In the summer of 2025 (May–August), I spent four months at Air Berlin Alexanderplatz, supported by Flanders State of the Art in Berlin, Germany. I was there to conduct an artistic research project — a first for me.

Context

A history (tribute) is an attempt to conceive of recent political history (from 1963 onward) through cases of people who set themselves on fire as a form of protest, placing these individuals at the center of history, as it were. Constructing the passing of time and unfolding of events as happening around and through these individuals. What emerges is a timeline that — case by case — jumps from country to country, continent to continent. A timeline centered on individuals deeply intertwined with what they perceive as systems of oppression. It is a phenomenon in which many of the contradictions in how we perceive history and humanity run parallel.

A body voluntarily on fire situates the struggle in that moment. It is not the product of a larger narrative that smooths out rough edges for the sake of clarity. By virtue of existing in so many dimensions, such an action demands its own history — one deeply entangled with the relation between politics and the body, the visual manifestation of systemic violence, conscious engagement with the production of images and stories, with plain theatrics, desperation, martyrdom, the agency inherent in life, and sometimes the poetry associated with that.

It is a perspective that contains all the absurdity, specificity, personal implication and moral questionability that life itself contains. 

Here is a blog that documents my activities and thoughts.
https://airberlinalexanderplatz.de/profile/9mTlM2RkTpNzEjv1ERzZpBJshb22

Output

It is hard to frame this output as ‘works’. They are steps in building a foundation for respect, deep engagement and honest questioning in relation to the subject matter. I implore you to read the context first.