Even when the titanic had already hit the iceberg, the message was still: "stay calm, return to your cabin. The titanic cannot sink at all." What to think of this statement, we all know. The dramatic events on the titanic have been told repeatedly. But how does the titanic look today? The artist yadegar asisi answers this question with a spectacular 360 degree panoramic image showing the sunken titanik. It can still be seen throughout 2017 at the panometer leipzig. We went diving and took a look at asisi's titanic exhibition.
I have stretched my head back as if I were looking up at a skyscraper. But in fact it is the bow of the titanik, which is shrouded in a gloomy red-purple by spotlights. Far, far above me, at a height of 23 meters, hangs the mighty anchor. The installation by yadegar asisi in the leipzig panometer is called "the bow" and depicts the tip of the titanik. Three-dimensional. And on a scale of 1:1. Wow! A great idea.
So you really get a feeling for how huge the titanik was. "At the time of her maiden voyage, the titanik was the largest moving object ever built by man – the largest machine in the world," I read on the informational posters.
Asisi leipzig: the titanic tragedy
The titanik was supposed to set new standards in travel comfort. Together with two sister ships, also mighty steamers of the olympic class, the titanik was to serve the route southampton – cherbourg – queenstown – new york and back. But even the maiden voyage went wrong. On 14. April 1912, the titanik collided sideways with an iceberg in the north atlantic at about 11:40 p.M. "Not even god could make this ship sink," said another crew member to a passenger while boarding. All nonsense. It takes 2 hours and 40 minutes – then the titanik sank into the atlantic ocean.
It is a shock. 1514 of a total of more than 2200 people on board perish in the accident. The lifeboats are not enough and the crew is not up to the situation. The sinking of the titanic is considered one of the greatest maritime catastrophes. After that, extensive safety measures are put in place.
Tragic that apparently always a tragedy must happen before something moves. It's frightening how little has changed to this day. It was only after the terrorist attack on berlin's breitscheidplatz that berlin managed to secure its christmas markets with stone barriers and install surveillance cameras in public places. It was only after the devastating fire in london's grenfell tower that the authorities in the UK began to check fire safety in high-rise buildings.
"The titanik can't sink at all"
It is interesting to note the rock-solid belief of the time that technology could overcome all obstacles and solve every problem. Everything goes. Even the fear of the steamer sinking is believed to have been overcome.
"Virtually unsinkable" thanks to technology.
By simply flipping an electric switch, the captain can instantly lock all the doors, making the ship virtually unsinkable.
The shipbuilder, trade journal
I say that I cannot imagine any circumstance that could cause such a ship to sink. I can't imagine any serious disaster that could happen to this ship. Modern shipbuilding has overcome this possibility.
Captain edward john smith
Asisi leipzig: the promise of modernity
Yadegar asisi's titanik exhibition at the panometer leipzig is not only about the titanik, it is about more. For him and his team, the titanic is a symbol of man trying to control nature – and failing. Accordingly, the title of the titanik exhibition is: "the promises of modernity". Everyone promised that the titanik was unsinkable – but that was obviously wrong. The idea on which the "unsinkable" argument was based was to divide the ship into compartments that could be sealed off from each other by transverse bulkheads if damage occurred in one compartment. It didn't help much, the cracks were simply too extensive and caused misfortune to several departments at once.
Curious: to make people feel even safer, a fourth chimney was erected on the titanik, because steamships with many chimneys were considered particularly safe. In reality the fourth chimney was only a dummy.
The 360 degree panorama of the titanic
After an extensive photo exhibition of steel, skyscrapers and massive steamships, visitors finally arrive at the highlight of the exhibition: the 360-degree panoramic image. I enter a huge hall bathed in dim light. In the center stands a 15 meter high metal tower. A staircase leads up each floor. From here mine has a good view of the underwater world, which reaches a height of 32 meters. I look around: the 360 degree photo panorama shows the titanik on a scale of 1:1. A debris field resting peacefully on the seabed. 3.800 meters under water everything lies quietly, dimly lit by diving submarines.
Total 3.Yadegar asisi has 500 square meters of space to give an impression of what the titanic looks like today. Things are not quite realistic. For example, he adds details to the furniture, luggage, and everyday objects. The photos asisi works with come from submersibles that surveyed and documented the myth.
Asisi leipzig: a tragic story
The viewer is immersed in a tragic story. A lot of things came together during the titanic. Errors, turmoil. For example, there was the instruction "women and children first". It was often designed in such a way that men should not climb into the lifeboats under any circumstances. The crew was simply wrongly trained. Everyone had believed that the titanik could not sink at all and had therefore hardly bothered with the lifeboats. While there were far too few seats for all the passengers, it often happened that the boats left half empty because women assumed that the titanic was safer than such a small lifeboat.
The lights of a passing ship appeared in the fog. Emergency fires were lit, but the ship did not respond and continued sailing. Also tragic: fearing an overcrowded capsize, half-occupied lifeboats rowed away, leaving passengers floating in the freezing water and calling for help. Only one lifeboat turned back and came to the aid of the drowning victims. It is a tragedy as one can hardly imagine worse.
Asisi leipzig compared to asisi berlin
I know asisi from berlin, where he installed a 360-degree image of the berlin wall at checkpoint charlie. Compared to berlin, asisi leipzig seems less forceful. Maybe it's the acoustics, but it doesn't quite grab me that way. Sure: the picture is impressive and imposing. But I admit: the spark does not really jump over. What I find most interesting in this exhibition are the texts – and not the pictures. It is amazing how deep the belief in the almighty technology was pronounced. In this respect the exhibition achieves its goal. Only probably with other means than thought.