Santiago Sierra has been photographing rows of teeth since 2008: those of Sinti and Roma in Naples, migrants in Tijuana, refugees from the Middle East, and many more. Teeth serve as a multifaceted testimony to a person’s individuality and identity, much like fingerprints. They can reveal details about a person’s social background or financial status, reflect various beauty ideals, and are often the most reliable means of identifying human remains when the body is no longer intact.

The pictures of teeth are emblematic of Sierra’s focus on the “re-humanization” of groups dehumanized by the economy, migration, and prejudice. The act of “showing one’s teeth” touches on our most instinct-driven behaviors, representing a visceral act of threat and defense, as the universally understood phrase suggests. Sierra’s project for the n.b.k. facade, titled Der Zeitgeist, reflects a moment of fear and threat, attack and defense, showing strength and concealing fragility. Der Zeitgeist laments the return to a primitive, pre-linguistic stance that equally affects the social behavior of individuals, groups, and state actors.

Since 2015, the facade of n.b.k. serves as a surface of intervention for different contemporary artists, who develop a special project for the building an an annually alternating basis. The outdoor projects are intended to have a direct impact on public space, stimulate active engagement with the urban environment, and encourage debate about contemporary art and its aesthetic and social implications.

Santiago Sierra (*1966 in Madrid, lives and works in Madrid) represented Spain at the Venice Biennale in 2003 and took part in the Istanbul Biennale in 2013. Solo exhibitions include: Dundee Contemporary Arts (2018); Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2013); Reykjavik Art Museum (2012); Museo Madre, Naples (2009); Tate Modern, London (2008); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2004); Kunsthalle Wien (2002). He has also participated in the following group exhibitions, among others: Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (2023); K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2021); Museum Jumex, Mexico City (2020).