The repetition of the word "Danke" [Thank you] initially creates a polite, almost conciliatory impression. However, the names alter this effect. They refer to the political leadership of that time (the turquoise-green federal government). What begins as an expression of gratitude turns into irony – and from irony, into a political indictment. The viewer does not need the names explained to them; they recognize them immediately.
3. The First Key Stimulus: The Line of Names as a Political Code
The line of names functions like a political code. It forces the viewer to reread the supposedly friendly message. What exactly is being thanked here, anyway? It is precisely this question that unlocks the second layer of the work. For the installation does not simply state that these policies were flawed or deficient. Rather, it exposes the staging of power itself.
The continuous, almost sacral "thank you" from the rulers to the population during the crisis is subversively reversed here, holding up a mirror to those in charge – a sardonic thank-you for lockdowns, profound restrictions on fundamental rights, the near-prohibition of culture, and the omnipresent self-promotion in the media.
The documented reactions and the media silence clearly demonstrate that art has fulfilled its most crucial task here: it has rubbed salt into the wound and exposed the fault lines between the institutionalized cultural sector and the actual societal mood.