The ability of violence as an attitude of power. Neandertal-groove? Strength to defend your dignity? It's quite complicated. Far beyond any concept of innocence. We all had to learn about the difference between guilt and responsibility. That lesson ain't very welcome in our societies.

I got my private brainstorm after coming home from serbia, where I had all those meetings, debates und lucky hours. I began to set some marks and combine som symbols.

I told you about the Sherman Tank in Novi Sad, where I left behind some pieces of hay, like I did with the first bundle at the "shock gallery". Meanwhile there is an idea to establish more galleries in that way, making it kind of relay station.

You might imagine it as a "physical fax machine". I like the idea of having this opportunity in matters of art. But some more notes on the war machines. Symbols in many ways. Signs, kept in the landscape. Marks which might get removed, cause they are part of a national narration, telling bout a state, that vanished: Jugoslavia.

I remember another one, i saw near Gornji Milanovac in 2008. Same type. Sherman M4, the A3-version I suppose, maybe A3M8. The historical background is about a post war-situation, where the "Tank and Armoured brigades" were based on russian end american vehicles:

Medium Tanks'
+) M-4 Sherman - 630 (including M-32,M32B1 and M-74 tank recovery vehicle,stored in reserve)
+) T-34/85 - 308 (stored in reserve)
+) M-47 Patton - 319
+) T-55 - ~1000

Yugoslav tank brigades comprised two or three battalions each with 31 tanks in three ten tank companies. They operated about 1000 Soviet T-54s and T-55s,70 Soviet T-72s, around 450 Yugoslav M-84s, and some United States-made M-47 tanks. The army's tanks were in many respects its most obsolete forces. The T-54/-55 was a frontline model during the 1960s. Domestic production of the M-84 (an improved version of the Soviet T-72 built under license in Yugoslavia) was providing the army with a late 1970s and 1980s model. The army also had a reserve of old T-34/85 and Sherman tanks from World War II.

So in a way the Sherman Tank is a symbol for the special situation of former Jugoslavia, after Tito initiated the "Non-Aligned Movement" ("Pokret Nesvrstanih"), established in Beograd in 1961. Well, I got to find a soviet tank there also ;-)

No, in fact I don't need to search for, I know where to find one of those soviet machines, really a mess for the Germans, till they launched the "Tigers" and "Panthers". (This type was part of the legendary "Battle of Kursk".)

>>T-34 was described by the Germans in the following statements: "Very worrying", Colonel-General Heinz Guderian, Commander of Second Panzer Army, "We had nothing comparable", Major-General F.W. Mellenthin, Chief of Staff of XLVIII Panzer Corps and "The finest tank in the world", Field-Marshal Ewald von Kleist, First Panzer Army.<< (George Parada: "Soviet T-34")

Strange coincidence: Visiting Beograd in July 2005 I made some screenshots of a movie. I don't know the movie, the story and the whole line in that moment, but the subtitle says "2700 TENKOVA" and "800 TIGROVI". That means "2700 Tanks" and "800 Tigers", so I think, this scene is related to the Battle of Kursk, maybe the most weird and strange battle not only of the 20th century. [continue]

[balkan buro]

core | reset | home
4•10