The image of the work is not available online.
Watchwords of the Eighties, 1981-1982
This performance was presented at Documenta 7, Kassel, in 1982, and in various venues in the United States and Canada. A silhouetted figure of ambiguous identity, in street gear and carrying a huge ghetto blaster, scrawls messages of resistance on a wall with projected slides of Ronald Reagan, president of the United States from 1981 to 1989, and on a map of Latin America. Press cuttings, budget graphics and articles on the horrors perpetrated in Central America are intervened by the artist, while she raps to music commenting on these subjects. The video ends with a photomontage by John Heartfield in which Hitler’s image is replaced by Ronald Reagan under the title Der Sinn des Hitlergrußes: Kleiner Mann bittet um große Gaben, Motto: Millionen stehen hinter mir! (The Meaning of the Hitler Salute: Little Man Asks for Big Gifts. Motto: Millions Stand Behind Me!).
Technical details
- Original title:
- Watchwords of the Eighties
- Registration number:
- 3234
- Artist:
- Rosler, Martha
- Date created:
- 1981-1982
- Date acquired:
- 2008
- Fonds:
- MACBA Collection. Barcelona City Council long-term
- Object type:
- Audiovisual recording
- Media:
- Single-channel video, color, sound, 62 min
- Credits:
- MACBA Collection. Barcelona City Council long-term loan
- Copyright:
- © Martha Rosler
- It has accessibility resources:
- No
The MACBA Collection features Catalan, Spanish and international art and, although it includes works from the 1920s onwards, its primary focus is on the period between the 1960s and the present.
For more information on the work or the artist, please consult MACBA's Library. To request a loan of the work, please write to colleccio [at] macba.cat.
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