// new media class

“Ort des Geschehens” describes a place where an event has occurred.

With my project I’m referring to the Nazi book burnings. A campaign conducted by the German Student Union to ceremonially burn books, in both Nazi Germany and Austria, by classical liberal, anarchist, socialist, pacifist, Communist, Jewish, and other authors whose writings were viewed as subversive or whose ideologies undermined the National Socialist administration.

“Ort des Geschehens” recalls these crimes by linking the burnt books and persecuted authors at the actual place of event with a subtle memorial. A regular bench, which is to be used as a place to sit, to meet, to think and to read is slightly modified by implementing a barcode at the back. This code is the ISBN code of one specific publication, decodable with any conventional device, enabling the user to access any platform which makes this book once again readable. Although one is invited to sit down, read and reflect the book at the actual place where it was burnt decades ago.