Traces of Life / How to Kill (Care)

Part one: Hunt

In part one of the trilogy "Traces of Life/ How to Kill (Hunt)", Veronika Draexler films in the northern Finnish border region to Russia. The artist accompanies a hunter in sub-zero temperatures.

At the same time as the hunt on 29 January 2022, the film team tensely follows Russia's impending war against Ukraine.

Part two: Care

In part two "Care", Veronika Dräxler wears one of the white Fintec camouflage jackets on her hands. under a veil (Veil of Violence*), in which she hunted in part one. She walks through a spiral of stones, prays articles from the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide while followed by a drone.Fluidly, she transforms herself from the foreboding goddess of the hunt, Diana, into a lamenting war widow.

*Veil of Violence, print on tulle, broken branches, cable ties, 3.40 × 3m, 2023

Three camouflage patterns

The bridal veil comes from the exhibition "Chapters of Violence: Power & Control" (Galerie Weisser Elefant, 2023).

Printed with three camouflage patterns of troops and paramilitary units that have been convicted by the International Criminal Court (or its predecessor institutions in international law) in the past 100 years for proven war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Camouflage pattern from top to bottom:

Digital Flora (pixel camouflage) of the Russian paratroopers at the massacre in Butscha (UKR. April 2022)

Woodland camouflage of the Serbian Arkan Tigers (Balkan wars of the 1990s)

Pea camouflage of Einsatzgruppe A, Waffen-SS, the German-led "partisan

film credits:

Prayer: Quotes from the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 9 December 1948
Artwork: Veil of Violence by Veronika Dräxler, printed by @zigzagzurich‍
Widow: Veronika Dräxler
Director: Veronika Dräxler
Camera: Max Knoop
Editing: Amelié Richter
Colourist: An Laphan
Sounddesign: Sascha BlankGrafic Design: the studio sunshine
Production: Veronika Dräxler
Consultants: Anna Anders, Patrick Alan Banfield, Tami Born, Heiner Mühlenbrock, David Rankenhohn, Carsten Wilhelm Schrehardt
Photos of the Installation: Dirk Bruniecki (additional photo Constanza Melendez)
Funding: ZigZagZurich, Gisela und Erwin Steiner Stiftung München