comment . comment . comment began with the idea of revisiting Democracy Poll / Demokratische Erhebung, a 1990 artistic intervention by the artist collective Group Material. In 1990, Group Material conducted 120 interviews with passers-by in Germany and the United States, addressing nationalism, racism, right-wing populism, and anti-democratic tendencies. Revisiting these interviews today reveals how strikingly relevant they remain in light of contemporary right-wing populism and the broader political shift to the right.

comment . comment . comment is an intervention in public space. A selection of the 1990 interviews was printed on postcards and displayed in a postcard rack at Ku’damm-Eck in Berlin. Passers-by were invited to discuss the interviews and comment on them anonymously on the back of the postcards. The intervention thus initiated a dialogue about the political, socially critical, and historical significance of the original work, as well as the persistence of racism and nationalism and their relationship to democracy and patriotism. An accompanying lecture-performance at the nGbK (neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin) provided further context on the historical circumstances and the development of the original work.

Photos 7–8: Paula-Marie Kanefendt
Photo 10: Matthias Reichelt