Myriam Thyes, who grew up in Zurich and now lives and works in Dusseldorf, brings a new facet to our programme: like her animations entitled Flag Metamorphoses, which we are showing on DVD on a computer monitor, her new images, called Migration Flags, are also created on the computer. Printed as digital colour photographs, they are of the highest graphic and technical perfection.
In short, Myriam Thyes seeks to shift long-held ideas, turning things upside down and ‘confusing’ entrenched images. She is particularly interested in visual and imaginary worlds that are handed down in the form of representative symbols, and thus she questions the meanings behind national flags and symbols. To this end, she researches historically grown cultural, political, religious and economic relationships between different states and combines them into image sequences, drawing on the forms and images of two flags in each case, but in one case also around 20 flags. This may sound dry in description, but it is a very stimulating ‘game’ for the eye and the mind, with countless possible variations. ‘Of course, other aspects of the relations between two countries can lead to different images,’ says Thyes, adding that ‘the sheer number of countries in the world, with just one possible combination per national flag, would result in such a large number that it would take decades to realise them all.’ This is one reason why the artist has decided to offer her work as a collaborative project on the internet, open to anyone interested in a work that combines research and commentary, political curiosity and, last but not least, visual imagination.
The Migration Flags are related to the Flag Metamorphoses, but as individual images (not stills from the animations) they stand alone. They are also a playful reflection on the difficult topic of migration. Captivating in their colourfulness and graphic diversity, they open up completely new perspectives on the migration and transformation of symbols.
