Five Heads is a photography series inspired by the artists childhood memories of German children’s books and many contemporary American TV shows, where mischievous and villainous characters, like thieves, vampires and pirates, are humorously romanticized as slightly stupid, mentally impaired, but endearing figures with bad habits. Robber Hotzenplotz is a famous version of this kind of popular and mischievous characters in literature for children that was popular during the artists childhood. Inspired by her memories and imagination, the artist sculpted five clay heads, bringing them to life through portrait-like photographs. These imagined romantic criminals reflect her inner visualizations as a child and examine the ongoing fascination and practice of humanizing “bad” characters in contemporary western storytelling.
The series blends fantasy with commentary on storytelling’s role in shaping perceptions of morality and identity. The work also asks for the reasons for the human fascination with the dark, dramatic and uncanny. These kind of harmless normalizations of dangerous characters were particularly popular in the 80’s and 90’s, and while they are funny, one may also question in how far normalization prevents people from developing the inspiration to asking the right questions. By humorizing and normalizing harmful behaviors and characters, storytelling risks desensitizing audiences and discouraging critical inquiry into root causes or solutions for societal dysfunction. Noticeable, In this, decade, contemporary storytelling and television often normalize drama, conflict, and toxic relationships by romanticizing dysfunction and glamorizing destructive and abusive behaviors. This portrayal can desensitize audiences and perpetuate harmful narratives, framing unhealthy dynamics as captivating or aspirational rather than problematic. One has to wonder why positive stories and stability are perceived as boring? Does this really have any thing to do with human fascination with the dark or do we have to look deeper, and how much is contemporary storytelling and media at fault?!
