32 TFS Double Life

32 TFS Double Life is an in-situ installation of 78 jacquard tapestries replacing military canvas beds in an underground bunker.

The installation includes archival photographs of an exuberant New Year’s Eve party from the photo album of an 1960s army officer. These photographs were taken at the Casino Soesterberg, The Netherlands, near from the bunker which was built by the NATO during the Cold War in case of biological or chemical attack. The United States 32 Tactical Fighter Squadron have been using it for their trainings.

These Photographs are reproduced on woven fabrics, which were hung in place of the cots in the bunker.

The light is switched on and off by a computer at a two minutes’ interval, giving the portraits, which were worked in phosphorescent thread, the air of death masks.

Appearing and disappearing, smiling faces pop into view then fade from sight again. Presence and absence alternate.