the universe of LACH
Armed Peace
2026
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- LACH DE TEMMERMAN -
"Armed Peace" is a work about peace and how we try to preserve it today. In this piece, you see small figurines that take the place of pigeon spikes. Pigeon spikes are everyday objects in the city. They are placed to keep pigeons away from buildings and squares. Yet the pigeon is the ultimate symbol of peace.
By using, among other things, toy soldiers instead of spikes, a strange but recognizable image emerges. What would normally go unnoticed suddenly gains a clear meaning. The figurines are arranged like a defensive line. They do not actively hold anything back, but they do make it clear who is welcome and who is not.
The title "Armed Peace" plays with a double meaning. The figurines are literally armed. At the same time, the title says something about peace itself. As if peace can only exist when it is protected, guarded, or defended. Here, peace is not a calm state, but something that must be constantly maintained.
The work raises a simple but uncomfortable question. Can peace exist without weapons or threat? Or is our current peace actually built on readiness and control? "Armed Peace" shows how protection and exclusion lie close together. Even the symbol of peace is no longer given a place. So what remains of the peace we are trying to protect?