Necropolitical Cyan (images of asphyxiation)
Hydrogen cyanide (HCN), also known as hydrocyanic acid, prussic acid or Blausäure was the toxic agent in Zyklon B. Cyan in cyanide-based poisoning is the toxic and lethal agent both in Holocaust and Nazi suicide pills.
Slideshow left and right, video center: experiments with creating a body suit of cyanotype-exposed pieces of linen fabric in natural scale, producing white (non-exposed) shadows on blue (exposed) background. The final bodysuit will enact as an inside-out skin portrait of my body, as each exposed backside is stitched together as frontside.
The relation between this cyanotyped inversed body suit and the notion of asphixiation is conceptualized in relation to language and metaphorical tropes as e.g. in "blue in the face". Chemically the transformation from Blausäure (Prussian acid) to Zyklon B, prominent in both Holocaust and Nazi suicide pills, is labelled as deoxidization. For legitimate use as a pesticide, Zyklon B included a warning odorant as not everyone can smell cyanide or recognize its faint almond-like odor.
