Tag Archives: passport


Felix Gonzalez-Torres

felixgonzalestorrespassport

‘Untitled (Passport)’ (1991) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres.

White paper (endless copies).

 


Danh Vo

The on-going project “Vo Rocasco Rasmussen” that began in 2003, was one of Danh Võ’s first forays in the systematic subversion of hegemonic cultural structures. Legally marrying and adopting the names of one close friend after another, this on-going work could be seen as a tribute to loyalty and love, but his subsequent accumulation of names over time calls into question the role a name plays in our understanding of identity. His passport, for example, does not read the same as his bank-card, and the name on his driver’s license is different from his door bell.


Nasan Tur

Nasan Tur, ‘Passport’ (2000)

Applying for a German passport, Nasan Tur let his mustache grow over several months, fitting the cliche of the Turk in Germany.

This small alteration in his appearance led to a complete change in perception of and reaction to him from the outside world in his daily life. In the circles in which he normally moved he was suddenly no longer welcome, and from a female point of view unsexy, whereas he was greeted with “Salem Aleykum” when walking past Turkish cafés and reaped enthusiastic compliments from aunts and uncles.