Bus Shelter IV

First appearing in 1983, Dennis Adams’ Bus Shelter series gained its twelfth variation in 2018. Prior to that year, the most recent example was installed at Kunsthalle Bielefeld, while Bus Shelter IV in Münster from 1987 is still a relatively early example. The shelters are all functional architectural steel constructions, offering protection from the elements, as well as seating. Historical photographs are installed behind glass or in light boxes, giving each work a specific theme. In Münster, the seemingly intricate frame construction is made even more inscrutable by mirror reflections and semi-transparent smoked glass panes; at first glance, the people waiting at the bus stop appear to be part of the historical event depicted in the photographs.

The pictures here were taken in 1987 in Lyon during the trial of Klaus Barbie, who was an SS war criminal and later commissioned as an agent for the American and German secret services. The outward-facing photographs show the war criminal with his defense lawyer Jacques Vergès in the foreground. The inward-facing photographs show enlarged details of this shot in which a spectator can be seen. In this way, history is visually intertwined with current reality. While being presented with the complexity of the concrete historical situation, general questions about guilt and judgments of guilt are also expressed in the public space.

Further reading:
Klaus Bußmann / Kasper König: Skulptur Projekte in Münster 1987, [exh. cat. Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster], Cologne 1987, pp. 19–22.

www.lwl.org