Gone to Croatan : strategien des verschwindens / strategies of disappearance

The first European colonists in the New World disappeared leaving behind the settlements and a paper note with the words Gone to the Croatan. The Croatan were an Indian tribe living in neighboring territories. They are said to have murdered the settlers, however, reports concerning green-eyed Indians seem to contradict that version of events. A hypothesis suggests that the settlers went on a trip into another dimension. Disappearance is generally associated with defeat. What is invisible is external to public life, and the invisible has no influence on the direction of a community is taking. What will happen, however, if we scrutinize specific gestures? When shall we face attitudes that perceive the act of descending underground as part of strategy? Works and gestures that have come to light during the project Gone to Croatan reveal real stories of disappearance and detective search for traces of what has become ghostly, and confront them with artistic fiction taking up the theme of self-exclusion. The figures of investigators fail to meet those they are trying to find.