20.5 x 29.5 cm, 2009
Found color photograph and some found chairs*
*The round back chair is cut out of the paper.
//
Last week I had to go to the Auslaenderbehoerde (the Foreigner's Agency) to get a new residency permit.
These offices are the same everywhere; lines, waiting rooms, nondescript furniture, instant coffee machines. Then there are the employees - those people who have stuffed animal collections behind their desks and also those who hate their jobs (sometimes they are one in the same).
I had spent 2 weeks running around town prior to my meeting, getting forms filled out from different agencies and asking people to write letters for me stating my employment. Even though all my paperwork was in order, I felt vulnerable. My residency permit was contingent on someone who didn't know me. During these moments while I was waiting for my number (666!) to be called, I started to think about the economic crisis again. My permit request could have been turned down - there are Germans here who could do what I do... As I managed to work myself into a frenzy - number 666 flashed on the digital monitor.
I went to the room and met with the official. Fortunately I was granted an extension for now.
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