Disasters Of War

Los Desastres de la Guerra, The Disasters of War, is the title of Francisco de Goya's series of 82 prints, created in the early 19th century. Unfortunately this theme does not seem to get dated: Today it is the Austrian artist Andreas Horvath who uses photography for his rendition of the Disasters of War. The depicted figures are tiny plastic soldiers: toys, not bigger than a human thumbnail. Horvath, equipped with a magnifying glass and various "torture instruments”, mutilates them: he uses hot needles and screws to burn them, melts huge chunks of plastic to imitate inner organs being ripped out of these hapless creatures. He amputates their limbs or beheads them. A certain combination of lenses and extension tubes allows him to get as close as possible to the figures, accentuating emotions, screams of pain or sometimes even details like teeth. All photos were shot on analog 35mm black and white film, no digital effects are added. The final exhibition prints are larger than life. The toy figures become eerie monuments for anonymous victims of all wars. Soldiers from different centuries come together for a macabre dance, signifying the timelessness of the horrors of war.