Gerhard Richter's series of paintings, 18 October 1977 (1988), which explores the vague memory of death, is one of his most important works. Based on real-life images, the series depicts the collective death in prison of three leading members of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, with Ulrike Meinhof prominently featured as its central figure. Richter's three diminishing paintings show her hanging herself in prison: her thin body slumped on the cold ground, her elongated neck deeply embedded with a rope, and the image is disturbing. In contrast, the first in the series, taken from black and white photographs of Manhoff before her arrest, shows her as young and intellectual as a well-known journalist. Richter softens her otherwise tough facial features by blurring them, adding a feminine touch. Painting transcends mere recording and gives reality a magical transformation: violence is mystified, death is glorified, and the complex entanglements of memory and emotion are revealed.

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In this discussion in the reading group, I have a deeper understanding of Richter's iconic fuzzy painting. He uses blurred images to weaken the details of the picture, like a layer of fog, so that the viewer can not directly see the content of the image. This is more like a concrete manifestation of the fuzziness of memory, including his thinking about the relationship between memory and reality. He is not directly replicating real events, but recording his memory of real events, and adding a lot of his personal emotional expression. His portrait of Ulrike Meinhof softened many of her features, giving her a gentle femininity, while also making her death seem mysterious and fascinating. Fuzzy painting is not only a visual means, but also a tool for emotional transmission, adding indescribable sadness and sense of distance in the picture. It downplays the immediate impact of violence, but reinforces the viewer's emotional associations with death and fate.