Keine Werbung

Official letters trigger horror scenarios in the minds of many, especially those who find themselves in the most precarious situations. Reminders, dismissals, fines—everything seems possible in those short moments before the letter is opened and, in the best of cases, turns out not to contain an existential threat. 

Resisting the urge to crumple them up, tear them to pieces, or even toss them unread into the trash, Julieta Ortiz de Latierro transforms these official letters into pop-up sculptures in a gesture that captures their emotional impact. Slashing cuts and mountain or valley folds alter the printed messages in the letters; words flip and intertwine, losing their original meaning and becoming nonsense. 

The project Keine Werbung is made up of three parts: a photographic intervention on the platform billboards of the U1 at the underground station Kottbusser Tor, a video tutorial broadcasted on “Berliner Fenster” throughout the whole underground network, and an open workshop in collaboration with a neighborhood counseling project. During the workshop, the participants learnt how to transform their own letters into sculptures and thus find a proactive way to deal with the fears that inaccessible, often discriminating bureaucratic language triggers in them. The workshop aimed to foster dialogue, generating a space to discuss experiences and share strategies in relation to the actual social and bureaucratic concerns of the people in the neighborhood.