Jewish HistoryContemporary Art
Sep 24, 2015–Sep 1, 2016
In 1940, all Jewish residents of Efringen-Kirchen in Southern Germany were deported to France and then sent on to Auschwitz. German-American artist Trimpin’s Pour Crever commemorates the seventy-fifth anniversary of these tragic events. In this installation of suspended water tanks, a computer-controlled mechanism developed by the artist releases sheets of water which spell out the names of the murdered residents of his town; they fall through space and disappear forever into the pool below.
Trimpin is a MacArthur Fellow award-winning sculptor who has lived in Seattle for decades. His work—unusually accessible for general audiences—usually involves sound installations triggered by computer controls. In this work a tank of water at fourteen feet is suspended over an identical tank of water. A special mechanism developed by the artist releases drops of water in the shape of letters of the alphabet. For this work, the water drops will spell out the last names of the deported residents of his region; they fall through space and then disappear forever into the second tank of water. The title is a quote from the great Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt, who, when asked why she was sent to Gurs, responded that she was sent to Gurs “to suffer and die miserably, (pour crever).”