The German word “Brandstifter” describes someone who intentionally or negligently ignites a fire. The sound of tearing off the unbound pages resembles that of a striking match. A fire can also be caused verbally by fueling people’s mind to inflict harm or to wage wars. The dreamlike, haunting images of soldiers feel like looking at relics of timeless wars.Instead of keeping acts of war a mystery cult experience – contrary to the Mysteria, the “Mouth Closed Festival” of the ancient mediterranean world where you were not allowed to speak under penalty of death, here the pictures show soldiers forcing their way out of the depicted mouths. The need to be seen and heard either as a reminder of atrocities or again as a fire starter. Using lead as material relates to the inbetween, shapeshifting – since lead is considered a solid metal but is so soft that it bends its shape when touching it, reminding us that nothing is static.

Text typed on lead page (excerpt):

“Who am I? What forces drive me that I so relentlessly wage wars, dismiss lives, to satisfy what? Is it my need to fulfill every wish, every whim? Or am I occupied by this bottomless hunger that swallows each and everything that crosses my way. Bigger, larger, higher – stretch out and claim as much as I can. Anything I can slap a price tag on. Slap, slap, slap – Slap to get it, slap to sell it. Slap, slap, slap. Bulldoze roads, deprive whole areas, dig craters into planets, boldly go. Air rights, human rights, free speech. Turn shit into gold – an illusion I relentlessly use again and again.”

Please note, this book takes up to 4-6 weeks to deliver

Text stamped into lead covers:
Brecht quote in German: First comes eating and then comes morality.
Not knowing, knowing, this faint memory to call my needs and desires my own and not something I feast upon.

Text brushed onto pages with liquid charcoal:
Dear friend, let’s join the journey of a once so human creature far away from us and yet so close. Let you be taken into a world where life has lost its value and yet is all one’s got, this one life-time loan for a chance to reconnect. Where the hunger for being loved and the ability to capture a gentle touch leaves us wandering into timeless worlds, created through the perpetual repetition of our fears. Instead, to invite someone into our souls to share what is called I, what is called us.