In medical terms, a fracture refers to a broken (fractured) bone. Often fractures are not visible and hidden, some are open. In many cases such fractures will heal, sometimes – in case of displacement – functional limitations are consequential. The fractured East German society [1] of today that has contracted its injuries and fractures in the times of the fall of the wall, is obviously still in treatment.

The catcalls on politicians, migrants and authorities has settled in the ears of the liberal society as a tinnitus-like tone and has cumulated in the temporary numbness of the mainstream population. The song of the disappointed ones is levelled far right and cannot be overheard because of its intensity. Meier's diagnosis as an artist in this exhibition shows an image of rejection and uncertainty of this historical moment which has been considered to be a success. 
The work of 12 photographical pieces THOR depicts multi-purpose garage constructions in East-Germany which had been built in GDR times by thousands near housing complexes. The rotten and apparently deserted architecture has clearly kept its functionality. The gates have been protected with new locks, hinges and fittings. Meier not only shows us the sometimes funny world of the kleiner Mann (who makes things worse by attempting to improve them), but also questions present and past, inside and outside and the seemingly typical (East) German fear of loss. Considering the context of this show, the picture of the garages also has a political reference: The NSU used such buildings for conspiracy and the assembling of bombs. This brutal reality is contrasted with the more humouristically
connoted work drei Pfeifen (Erbse, Uwi, Maik) [Three pipes]. It seems as if even the neo-Nazis are unable to choose the right intoxication in these times of excessive social demands of an ever more complex world. The anthropomorphic glass bongs appear to be flaccid creatures resulting from a residing in the garbage of the times of change.

The work Reffjuschie Kreises literally holds a mirror to the viewer. The laser engraved article of the SPIEGEL magazine refers to the migration within Germany between the fall of the wall and the unification and shows many similarities to the discourse on migration of today. In the work Eiche [Oak Tree], Meier cites the metaphor of continuously regrowing and indestructible weeds which turn brown in autumn.

Considering his own biography and the changes of the times of change, Meier's artistic interest has been the post-socialist society for a long time. The exhibition Wind Of Change takes up this transitory moment to weave it into current political events. So this is not only a reflection of the (East) Germans but of a tendency that can be noticed worldwide.

A society – fraternizing with the evil genies in the bottle – travelling on foggy roads is on its way to new fractures and injuries. A fracture never as visible as now?

[1] Steffen Mau, Lütten Klein - Leben in der ostdeutschen Transformationsgesellschaft, Suhrkamp, 2019

- Berlin, October 2019

Wind Of Change

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