Gerz is not only concerned with memory as a form of cultural knowledge. For him, memory is rather the mainspring of human uncertainty and self-questioning. And it is only in this continual as self-induced uncertainty that there is, paradoxically enough, a chance of developing a self-awareness that is not in permanent danger of de-generation into self-deception, whether in the form of a superiority complex or an inferiority complex. Historically, self-deception has always had catastrophic social consequences, and so, acceding to Gerz, it is not just a matter of remembering, but above all one of making memory relevant to the present situation and of gaining insight into its fundamental importance of an ethics for the future is to be developed.

Friedemann Malsch 2002