Fertig

‘Refugee Week’ V&A Museum of Childhood, London
24 June 2017

‘Producing Memory: Maps, Materials, and Belongings’, Tate Exchange, London
1 May – 6 May 2018

“Construction with glass. Height 13 ft. Width 9’ 6”. Materials. Glass, metal, adhesive tape. Technique. The glass sheets suspended by adhesive tape fall onto the concrete ground in a pre-arranged sequence.” Gustav Metzger

Metzger was a child refugee who arrived in the UK in 1939 on the Kindertransport. Other than the above description, there appears to be no documentation of his artwork ‘Construction with glass’ made in 1961. The recreation of Metzger’s auto-destructive installation was inspired by an encounter with David Fertig, a 93 year-old man who was also on the Kindertransport. Fertig is an old German word meaning finished, ready. Fertig’s spoken testimony is interweaved with the falling sheets of glass.

Commissioned by the School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London.