TET-Stadt takes the viewer on a journey through majestic white buildings fronted by pyramid structures, suggesting a city of pharaohs. It's actually a recreation of a model of a 1917 Egyptian-themed urban project, conceived by the German ...See moreTET-Stadt takes the viewer on a journey through majestic white buildings fronted by pyramid structures, suggesting a city of pharaohs. It's actually a recreation of a model of a 1917 Egyptian-themed urban project, conceived by the German biscuit manufacturer Hermann Bahlsen and designed by the Expressionist artist Bernhard Hoetger. Though the original model was lost, almost seamlessly interwoven with Russo's own footage are shots of Egyptian structures from Germanen gegen Pharaonen, a propaganda film from 1939 by Anton Kutter, which proposed that the pyramids were of Germanic origin. In its mix of references to different periods, from the antique past to the ideologically turbulent opening decades of the 20th century, the film reflects on a state of a social consciousness and identity in transit between a lost past and utopian future. Written by
Karen Russo
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