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ADAM BROOMBERG AND OLIVER CHANARIN War Primer 2

War Primer 2 is a limited edition book that physically inhabits the pages of Bertolt Brecht’s remarkable 1955 publication War Primer.

The original is a collection of Brecht’s newspaper clippings, each accompanied by a four-line poem that he called Photo-epigrams.

War Primer 2 is the belated sequel. While Brecht’s War Primer was concerned with images of the Second World War, War Primer 2 is concerned with the images of conflict generated by both sides of the so-called “War on Terror”.

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ADAM BROOMBERG AND OLIVER CHANARIN War Primer 2

ADAM BROOMBERG AND OLIVER CHANARIN War Primer 2 is a limited edition book that physically inhabits the pages of Bertolt Brecht’s remarkable 1955 publication War Primer.

The original is a collection of Brecht’s newspaper clippings, each accompanied by a four-line poem that he called Photo-epigrams. It was the culmination of almost three decades of intermittent activity.  The title deliberately recalls the textbooks used to teach elementary school children how to read. Brecht’s book is a practical manual, demonstrating how to “read” or “translate” press photographs. Brecht was profoundly uneasy about the affirmative role played by the medium within the political economy of capitalism. He referred to press photographs as hieroglyphics in need of decoding.

This is the belated sequel. While Brecht’s War Primer was concerned with images of the Second World War, ADAM BROOMBERG AND OLIVER CHANARIN War Primer 2 is concerned with the images of conflict. Those generated by both sides of the so-called “War on Terror”.

“Don’t start with the good old things but the bad new ones” Brecht famously said. And in this spirit, Broomberg and Chanarin have gathered their material from the internet – compressed, uploaded, ripped, squeezed, reformatted, re-edited and often anonymous images – rather than sifting through newspapers with a pair of scissors.

Heiner Müller once said that to use Brecht without changing him is an act of betrayal. With War Primer 2 Broomberg and Chanarin have appropriated Brecht’s original. Thus giving us their critique of images of contemporary conflict, which is simultaneously a betrayal and a homage.

You can browse more Photobooks here.

 

Mack Books

Mack is a global publisher of award-winning books on art, photography and critical studies. Founded by Michael Mack in London 2010. They work with established and emerging artists, writers and curators, as well as cultural institutions.

Additional information

Artist

Book Type

Pages

200 pages

Publication Size

24 x 29 cm

Publisher

Mack Books

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