Israeli Artist Shames Those Making Light of Berlin's Holocaust Memorial

There's no single right way to behave at a Holocaust memorial, but as a general rule, visitors should be respectful -and practicing parkour, doing gymnastics, juggling and snapping selfies are all examples of disrespectful behavior. Unfortunately, Berlin's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe by architect Peter Eisenman is constantly filled with tourists taking selfies, playing hide and go seek, and otherwise ignoring the somber nature of the site. Even EasyJet published an eight-page fashion editorial in their magazine that was shot in the memorial.

That's why Israeli artist Shahak Shapira started showing how ugly and inappropriate these acts are by Photoshopping people's tasteless Facebook, Instagram, Tinder and Grindr photos into actual pictures of the Holocaust. The results are ugly and unpleasant, but they show exactly how callous the behavior of those in the images are. 

The project is called Yolocaust and Shapira made sure to include the number of likes each photo has to remind us that the people shooting the images aren't the only ones at fault.

Of course, those who find themselves on the page can get their images removed by emailing the highly appropriate address undouche.me@yolocaust.de. Meanwhile, you can see pictures of those tasteless people satired for their behavior on the Yolocaust website.

Via Tablet


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The design is abstract and I think because it is the way it is a lot of people don't realize that it is a Holocaust memorial, but if you know that, you should be respectful no matter what the design. Having been there, I can say that wandering through the blocks can really make you feel disoriented and alone, which makes it a very effective tribute and it seems like even if you didn't know, the design should still make you feel reflective -not put you in the mood to juggle and take pictures of yourself.
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I understand the objection, but I think the criticism is a little misdirected. There's something to be said about the abstract design of the memorial that it invites this kind of interaction. It' not as if the Germans couldn't have chosen a different approach that wouldn't invite this kind of disrespect. I lived in Oregon for a while and once stumbled across the Holocaust Memorial at Washington Park. I had no idea that it was there or what it was, but it only took a moment to realize what it was and feel the impact.
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