Safe 2461, Gold

SAFE 2461, GOLD
Chicago, America – 2015

In the roaring Twenties, Chicago was thrilling place to be, set to the intoxicating rhythm of jazz and blues. Life was intoxicating, but it could be dangerous as well. Between 1920 and 1933, prohibition came into force, and gangs fought to monopolise the enormously profitable bootlegging business.

The infamous Al Capone was now the secret boss of the city. He even popularised the term "money laundering" when he invested his immense illegal takings in washeterias. One can only imagine how much of this dirty money sat in the vaults of the Mid-City Bank.

Today, the bank is just a memory. The original deposit boxes of the former vault, which Christian Voigt has immortalised in his monumental Safe 2265, now contain rust and recollections of a former era. The transformation of the bank, once a bustling hub of financial activity, now a relic of the past, invokes a powerful sense of nostalgia. The original box, which sits alongside his monumental photography, is the last vestige from those golden years.

On entering the former vault, religious symbolism recalls a Christian tabernacle - when money was Chicago's religion. Each box conceals a secret, a philosophy of wealth, accumulation and a few murky tales. Isn't our entire comprehension of the past somewhat like a safe?

Memory is a bank containing our most precious treasures and ominous secrets – our lived experiences and heartfelt emotions. With the right key, this closely guarded world might open up to us and surrender its secrets.
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