Dedicated to critical cultural production at the intersection of art and activism.

We cover artists from around the globe whose work explores and realizes social change. Our goal is to provide a narrative about these activist efforts while simultaneously participating in them. Maintained by The Groundswell Collective since 2007.

Alfredo Jaar

James David Morgan wrote this post at 5:26 pm on June 29th, 2007.

Without mirrors, lightboxes, or other things that glow in the dark, Alfredo Jaar constructed one of his most minimal, yet emphatic projects. One million fake Finnish passports.

pass.jpg

His artist’s statement explains further:

“This great collection symbolized the restrictive nationalism of Finland. Compared to other European nations, Finland has the lowest number of immigrants and refugees. Maintaining inhospitable, restrictive policies, Finland has guarded its status quo at a time when other countries are re-examining their moral and political positions on refugees and exiles. The one million documents were, of course, replicas of actual passports. With their dimensions slightly altered, they could not easily pass for the real document. It was an ironic reflection of the nation’s exclusive immigration policies.”

He realized this project in 1995.

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