Like many cities, Mönchengladbach at the edge of the Ruhr industrial area in Germany, has suffered from the erosion of traditional industry, leading to areas of urban decay. My project builds on the rich graffiti that developed in an abandoned industrial complex
The elaborate graffiti in this building told of love, others of political protest. Some portrayed candy-coloured fantasy worlds, others were exercises in gritty urban realism.
Taking different images from this industrial complex and borrowing freely from the Grimm Brothers, film noir, science fiction and mythology, I have created an urban tale of hope and redemption.
The protagonist of this story is the traditional bourgeois hero – the detective. Unlike a typical detective, however, who relies on his wits and determination to catch the bad guys, our detective relies on help from the underworld and the supernatural world to triumph at the end.
Moreover, the enemy he is against – an evil cult leader with a swastika on his forehead – suggests that the scale of the problems he faces come from a far greater spiritual dysfunctionality than traditional law-and-order forces can cope with.
In this sense, the story remains true to the subversive energies of the unknown graffiti artists who created these images in the first place.
