TROCKENTROPEN

2012
Video Recorded at the botanic gardens in Frankfurt am Main. 1:48 min loop video with sound.

Installation at Steirischer Herbst, Graz: archival photographic print of an areal shot of Frankfurt in the 1950ies before the skyscarpers were built. Layered on top an Archival inkjet print on Hahnemuehle FineArt Baryta Paper of a cactus, photographed in the botanic garden of Frankfurt.

On the wall a black and white c - type print of the blue sky I took from the highest floor of 185 skyscraper built in 2011.

Doors open, doors closed 

Before she stepped inside the shiny lobby she paused for a moment. It was not even a kilometer away from where she had come from, but it seemed as though it was completely another world. Surely the people working here would have the same thought if they would cross to her side of the river.

The lobby was very spacious, light and clean, so clean she became conscious of her appearance. She walked to the reception desk, introduced herself and asked for the person whose name she had been given. The receptionist made a call and gave her a name tag in a plastic cover. She took a seat in what she recognized to be Le Corbusier Armchair and gazed around the lobby. Triangles everywhere. The ceiling panels were triangular, the floor tiles and even the ashtray stood there like a pyramid.

Men and Women rushed past her. After a while a young man appeared. He was wearing a black suit made from a slightly shiny material and pointed black shoes. He must have been about the same age as herself. Together they went through the barriers, which her host opened with a chip card. They were alone, the elevator was reserved for guests only. One side of the elevator was made of glass. She watched the city disappear beneath them as the elevator shoot up to the 43rd floor. It was almost silent, only the sound of the air changing pressure changing around the elevator was hearable.

The elevator doors opened. Three security guards stood on the other side of the spacious hall awaiting them. She followed the young man, the three guards in turn followed her. They went through various small conference rooms, named after opera‘s: Aida, Lohengrin, Don Giovanni. She wondered weather there was one called Cosi fan Tutte (Thus do they all). Each room had a conference table with more Corbusier chairs. The walls opposite the door was always floor to ceiling glass from which she could see far in either direction. On walls to the right and left hung large format, color photographs or large colourful paintings.

They continued. The young man lead the way into what appeared to be the main conference room. It was 5 times the size of the others with curved walls. The table had a hole in the middle. There was a large world-map on the wall. She thought that it looked like the Nato headquarters.

The men remained by the door while she took a look around. After a while she chose a spot by the window. She put up her tripod on the window sill. She fixed the camera on it and pointed it into the sky. She took out her light meter pointed it out the window, changed the settings of the camera and pressed the shutter. On the way down the elevator was slightly more crowded. The accompanying guards had come with them to the ground floor. This time she noticed that on every second floor there was a little sign indicating an ice-cube machine. The sound of the air pressure changing had reversed. The city rushed towards her.