masha wysocka - La salle des pas perdus

La salle des pas perdus, 2023

It is a sound piece and performance recorded at the Berlin-Karlshorst Museum, which is located at the historical venue of the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) on 8/9 May 1945.

I recorded the footsteps of a Berlin-based artist, Jeremy Knowles, in the room where Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France signed the German Instrument of Surrender. This document, also known as 'Unconditional Capitulation of the Wehrmacht,' put an end to World War II in Europe.

The project aims to pay homage to millions of war victims. Its title, 'La salle des pas perdus' could be translated as 'The Room of the Lost Steps'. I was eager to commemorate the people who lost their lives during the Second World War by recording the sound of footsteps. The project aims to draw attention to the 'cracks of history' through the parquet's noise and ask the audience to reflect on them individually. The parquet happens to be the only 'survived witness' to the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces.