“Dead Watch” is a project recontextualising the modern Western perception of Eastern Europe into the ongoing turnover of vampire fiction. Vampire fiction has long been a veil for Western authors to create an image representative of media portrayals of Eastern Europe through stereotypes, both intentionally and unintentionally.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been observed by us; an unwilling audience to real horror. Desensitised media reactions have treated the current events as almost fictionalised.
This project comments on this by further fictionalising the current events through a comic series, where almost all the text is taken straight from recent news articles.
The objects are further vessels of fiction, combining vampire tropes with symbolism from the current invasion: a toy tank shooting garlic bullets, a crucifix made from sanctioned aluminium and a Czech anti-tank hedgehog made from stakes.
This project, exploring the connection between vampire fiction and the negative portrayal of Eastern Europe, was ongoing before the Ukraine invasion, and adapted to address the situation.
I invite you to question when is it appropriate to fictionalise a tragic situation? But where would we be if we didn't?
