Pyromancer

»Review«

Fire (and pyrotechnics)—something that has always fascinated humanity, and far from always in a positive sense. “Pyromancer” brings together a terrifying image of Rome burning under Nero with a snapshot of a “burning” supporter section at a soccer match: ancient individual madness meets modern collective madness, and the result of this fusion remains madness. Pyrotechnics as a means of expression and ritual for identity, emotion, and group culture among soccer fans—particularly the so-called ultras—while simultaneously serving as an expression of demarcation and resistance against bans, has nothing to do with “pyro” in the sense of fire art. Rather, it is ultimately senseless endangerment, violence against “the others.”