Hospital Room 2002
Site specific installation
Material: wood, plaster boards, lacquer varnish, wall paint, floor paint
Dimensions: 310 x 650 x 450 cm
I had the room at my disposal for two months from a student colleague. Without changing the layout (furniture, lights, floor) I rebuilt the room from the inside. The only reference to the ‘outer’ room were square openings that showed parts of the room behind. The shelves could not be used anymore, the light switch was not accessible and the window could not be closed.
The white colour existed as an overwhelming tenor. White, often postulated as purity, neutrality, spirituality, innocence, the sublime etc, also created an association with modern gallery rooms, hospitals, schools, museums and places of similar kind.
White was believed to help the patient’s convalescence, a reason why military hospitals were often covered in white. The main building of the Academy of Fine Art in Munich served as such in WWI.
«Modern man is born in a hospital and dies in a hospital, so he should make his home like a clinic.»
Robert Musil «The Man Without Qualities», Picador (London, 1997)