This commission was subjected to combine the demand for a tourist information spot for walking tours and a major artwork for this park to become a “sculpture garden”. Historical facts were also taken in consideration.

The region used to be prosperous from the beginning of the industrial era up to the mid-sixties of last century; mining for coal made a deep mark on the social and economical structure. To house the miners, a master plan was developed which influenced town and infrastructure planning and architecture. “Koloniën”, small communities outside the larger cities, were established to house the workers. Those houses, the size of which corresponded to the hierarchic position of its residents within the company, were built according to a uniform design. This was usually based upon neoclassical (revivalist) styles. These model settlements were meant to create self-sufficient communities which were out of reach of urban influences: alcohol, moral corruption and socialism.

These living conditions left an impression on the design in two ways: firstly, the form and dimensions are inspired by the uniformity of the “kolonie“-houses – they are just scaled down, secondly a video loop on a built-in touch screen shows the actual situation in some of the houses that still exist.

The video shows a seemingly endless “tracking shot” (videotaped on a dolly – a construction with wheels, often on rails, to mount the camera on) through the interiors of several houses. Smoothly edited and digitally darkened-up it evokes the “feel” of a documentary registration without explicit journalistic content. It is edited to move seamlessly from one interior to thenext.

Pavilion 2 queries the immediate environment and its past at this moment in time. It questions where and how economy, history and society are connected to each other. This installation represents archetypes, contemporary myths and the artist’s personal considerations.

540 x 341 x 281 cm
Stainless steel building, concrete, LED lighting, touch screen and PC (software: Sitekiosk browser, Flash video player)