Palaeanthropical Physiognomy – Identikit Photographs

As part of Gerhard Lang’s work Palaeanthropical Physiognomy, the performance “On a Quest for the Unknown” took place in an interview room at Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in March 1992, producing images of unknown creatures on the identikit device. The Minolta Montage Unit was made in the 1950s and 1960s – originally to reconstruct the faces of Hiroshima victims; by way of cosmetic surgery the montage synthesiser entered criminology.

The device uses a mirroring technique that combines fragments of up to four passport photographs into a single identikit image. The identikit photographs for Gerhard Lang’s work were created by a criminologist, on the basis of Lang’s descriptions and his catalogue of passport photographs – comprising bees, wasps, owls, beetles … and all the residents of his home village Schloss-Nauses.

“Gerhard Lang creates monsters. In scientific terms, he works in the field of teratogenesis. […] Gerhard Lang creates pictures of monsters yet to be discovered. It is no coincidence that he refers to a method of criminal investigation: the identikit photograph.” (Lucius Burckhardt)