The idea of Night Porter is based on my visual recollection of the rhythm of coat check tickets hanging in the coat rack of a nightclub. In Night Porter, I changed the numbers on the tickets to fingerprints, which are unchangeable and unique identifiers, and thus used in order to identify a human being in diverse technical applications, databases, and criminal investigation. The work raises questions on identification, the recognition of being the same or oneself, and the constant expansion of different control systems. However, the fingerprints can also be seen as sensitive, individual, and fragile signs of the human condition.

© Timo Heino, 2015