Sight.Seeing Bundestag - Marion Eichmann

Marion Eichmann's works reflect her attempt to observe the everyday life of a parliament and to capture the highly complex machinery of democracy in her artworks. She focuses her attention on both media-familiar spaces and iconic facades as well as workspaces, machines, signs and devices that are barely visible to the general public. More than one hundred complex and colourful paper cuts, collages and drawings were created within a year and show the parliament from unusual perspectives.

As part of the event "Sight.Seeing Bundestag - END-Alumni im Gespräch mit Marion Eichmann", scholarship holders discussed their observations and interpretations of individual works together with the artist. The joint exchange was rounded off by an individual walk through the exhibition. The following pictures show a selection of the works interpreted by the alumni. We would like to express our sincere thanks for the exciting conversations at the interface of art and politics.

"ADLER WEISS"
Commented by Mariella Cantagalli, Senior expert, DG TRADE, EU Commission 

When I entered the liaison office of the German Bundestag in Brussels, I was immediately struck by the white eagle on the wall next to the porter's lodge in the entrance area. Two ideas came to my mind:  
The eagle, a former symbol of imperial power, is now in the plenary hall in the Reichstag building and is understood today as a symbol of German democracy. Marion Eichmann's eagle is given a lightness and also a certain airiness by the use of paper and the technique of collage, which takes away the heaviness of the symbolic power as such, but at the same time brings the power of democracy closer to the people.  
Furthermore, this eagle reminds me of my childhood: the radiance in its lightness and the feelings it evokes in me are beautiful and pleasant for me. It gives me a feeling of security and I feel protected by it.

"FAHNE" 
Commented by Raphael meyer, lawyer, Council of the european union

There is an artwork in itself, as a real object. But I think the actual artwork is created in the encounter between this real artwork and the viewer and the viewer's own past and history.
In this context, I have to say that I am particularly attracted to Marion Eichmann's work in the Bundestag and I think that comes partly from my personal and family history.

My mother was always enthusiastic about contemporary architecture and worked as an interior designer for a while. At home we always had architectural plans or models, as well as books on architecture lying around in her office. During the holidays, we always took a detour to visit this or that modern building.
This universe of lines, arcs, circles, perspectives, flat but also three-dimensional, in which there is also craftsmanship, provided with few colours, appealed to me directly and seems familiar and familiar. I was not surprised when I read later in the catalogue that Marion Eichmann's father was an architect himself.

Since I felt addressed by many of the pictures in this exhibition, it was not easy to choose one. As a lawyer, I found the picture of the bookshelf with the law books really impressive. I also really like the perspective from the Reichstag building onto Friedrich-Ebert-Platz with a view of the Reichstag President's Palace.

But in the end I chose the painting "Fahne", firstly because I found it very representative of this project. It's not a monumental, artificial perspective that you might only see with a drone, but a view from a human perspective, from a human eye, as seen by a visitor or a staff member of the Bundestag when they are in the building. At the top of the left corner of the image you see a piece of window or blind, and lines, like in a window, crossing the image.
Secondly, I chose this picture because I think it is very representative of the Reichstag building. The architect Norman Foster has succeeded not only in preserving the existing building, but in really making it stand out. He has made the building fit for purpose for a modern democratic parliament without obscuring the existing architecture, and also without creating something kitschy, or an ahistorical replica, as in the case of the Berlin Palace.
In this picture, you can really see the combination of tradition and modernity that characterises the Reichstag building. It also shows how the architect has created interesting lines of sight across the building. Thirdly, more directly related to the picture itself, I think it expresses a real movement, a dynamic. I'm not a specialist but I think that comes from the strong black lines, and also from the flag, which you can almost see moving. It also looks quite strict, businesslike, as a parliament must be too!

"Dem deutschen Volke" 
COMMENT BY JUAN GOMEZ-RIESCO, LEGAL OFFICER, GD JUST, EU COMMISSION

I chose the picture "Dem Deutschen Volke" because it made me think. This picture shows the west facade of the Reichstag building with barriers. The facade is only a sketch and is somewhat in the background. The façade is drawn in graphite, whereas the barriers are red, grey and white. This creates a contrast. It seems as if the focus or emphasis is on the barriers.
It is true that the Reichstag building has many visitors every day and there are also safety reasons for erecting barriers: Visits have to be organised, accidents or attacks have to be prevented.
Nevertheless, these barriers in front of this facade are thought-provoking. There seems to be a contradiction here between the title "Dem deutschen Volke" and these barriers that block access and protect the building. This makes me think of the crisis of representative democracy and the crisis of representative parliamentarism and the increasing populism in some states. There is a contradiction between the openness of the parliament and the barriers. I see a certain symbolism in this and an invitation or invitation to reflect. However, I also suspect that everyone has a different view of the same images, also depending on their own background.  


"Handeln für morgen"
COMMENT BY AIGI KASVAND, GD MOBILITY, POLICY OFFICER, EU COMMISSION ​​​​​​​

I chose the work "Handeln für Morgen". I was very fascinated by how detailed and true to detail the picture is. You can recognise the most important landmarks in Berlin such as the TV tower, the Friedrichstrasse train station, the Spree River, etc. For earlier works, the artist first explored the city and then created the pictures. The work in the Bundestag was different from Marion Eichmann's previous works because she spent a lot of time in the Reichstag itself. What role did the city of Berlin play in this?