Window Work

Window Work

1995

Window Work, commissioned by the KunstlerHaus, Bremen, is a one-off site specific work consisting of 9 large plate glass sheets, which were intended to be fitted to the existing 9 gallery windows, as double glazing.

These fitted glass sheets etched with text (in English) were back lit by sheets of red and yellow coloured gel affixed to the glass of the existing windows. One of the gallery walls was painted black. During the day, as the sun moved from east to west and depending on the weather conditions the emotional and spatial feel of the gallery changed.

One might imagine the experience of being “inside” the German flag. The text etched on the glass sheets consisted of idiomatic expressions selected from texts – at that time (early 90s) – debating diverse issues about the unification of Germany. Most of the texts were from publications written in German and translated into English.

Five of the large plate glass sheets were accidentally broken in transport and thus not fitted to the windows but laid out on the floor in front of the windows with a yellow gel affixed to the existing windows.

This work could have interestingly been titled Broken English