2007 《Thermocline of Art - New Asian Waves》, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany

When you enter ZKM through the main entrance, built from a renovated former factory building stretching 350 metres long, the exhibition hall for special exhibitions is on the left. On the right, with a cafeteria in between, is the media theater (Medientheater). 

 

Climbing up the stairs inside the entrance hall, which opens up to a four-story-high glass roof, you find the Medien Museum, a permanent media art exhibition, on the left. To its right, behind glass walls, is the Mediathek, which serves as both a library and a video viewing room. At the 10 o’clock direction from the entrance are the bookstore and giftshop, and if you go up the stairs at the 7 o’clock direction and cross over, you reach Cubus, where contemporary and electronic music performances are regularly held. The remaining less visible spaces house research institutes such as advanced image and sound laboratories, a lecture hall (Vortragssal), offices, and computer and machine rooms.

 

This work models the four-story-high entrance hall of ZKM. The model is 2 metres tall and is designed so visitors can enter its interior through openings on both sides. The internal structure, stairs, and spatial partitions are carefully reproduced. The interior of the hall is lit with LED lights. Small surveillance cameras are installed throughout the space. These cameras record the interior and the people inside, and the footage is shown on flat monitors placed within the hall. 

 

The exhibition space where the work is displayed is dark, with no lighting, but blue light emitted from the model spills into the room. The camera footage is edited in real time and projected onto a screen installed in the exhibition space. 

20 Feb 2024