Tehnica Schweiz: The Reenacting Artillery Unit 1-8 (2006)

Gergely László and Péter Rákosi, collaborating since 2004 under the label Tehnica Schweiz, are known to conduct thorough anthropological and sociological research for each work. Their first common project was the series about a tradition preserving society that keeps the memory of the 1849 battle of Tápióbicske alive (Commuting Artillery, 2004-2006). The project associates the institution of commuting, so typical of the life of the region today, with the historical/cultural traditions related to the revolution of 1848, still vivid in the mind of the people living in the Tápió region. During the project, the artists made photographic portraits of the members of three local tradition preserving artillery units, devoted to keeping alive the memory of the battle of Tábióbicske, which took place in 4 April 1849. The series of 44 photographs was then displayed on the side of five buses transporting local workers who are forced to commute. Thus, the photographs initiated a dialogue with social groups (artillery troops, entrepreneurs operating the buses, leaders of local communities, or the big companies that employ the commuters), who are otherwise quite isolated from contemporary art. In 2006, the artists re-photographed some members of the artillery units, and now this augmented series has become part of the Ludwig Museum’s collection. (Katalin Székely)