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Psychobuilding

100 Kumpels unterm Gartenhaus

Multimedia exhibition in the Gartenhaus of the Academy Munich, Diploma, 2013

In an exhibition in the "Gartenhaus der Kunst", related notes, photographs, objects and videos were presented on three floors. Their arrangement made it possible for the visitor to understand a linear narrative the higher he climbed the levels of the house.

It was about a man who one day decided not to leave this house anymore. In the months that followed, he discovered inconsistencies inside his house that led him to believe that every day, hundreds of construction workers were busy building copies of his inhabited half of the house, one below the other. While he sleeps, they carry him one house lower, so that he sinks deeper into the earth every night and in the morning, wakes up again in the same, but not identical house...

 

 

 

Gartenhaus der Kunst: In 2013 the exhibition "Psychobuilding" took place on three floors in the front half of the house.

First floor: No daylight enters the exhibition space.

First floor: table with magnifying lamp / showcases. When the visitor enters the exhibition room, these are illuminated by motion detectors.

First floor: The showcase on the left is marked "Note 1". In it is the first diary record of the protagonist.

First floor / Showcase: Black illuminated showcase/ Lights up when the visitor is in the vicinity. Next to each object in the exhibition is a museum label (orange sticker).

First floor / note 1: The protagonist expresses his decision not to leave his house anymore.

First floor / note 2: He puts himself in a meditative state, doing nothing more than looking at the surface structures surrounding him.

First floor / note 3: After examining all the surfaces in his house, he looks again at the tabletop.

First floor / Note 4: Despite careful examination, the wooden structures seem strange to him.

first floor / table 1: table of the protagonist

First floor / Table 1: The sticker identifies the table as part of the collection or exhibition. The table top is made of rough pressed wood.

First floor / Table 1: The protagonist uses a magnifying glass lamp to examine the wooden structures of the board.

First floor / table 1: He puts a foil on the plate and follows the structures with a pen.

First floor / roof: The form illuminated by a spotlight is not part of the architecture, but was installed under the stairs especially for the exhibition.

First floor / roof: The question of what this artificially integrated slope is all about will only be answered at a later date.

First floor / roof: The inscription identifies the form as part of the exhibition, gives a first vague hint. . . . . . . INFORMATION "ROOF" (page 1) / > CLICK ON IMAGE <

First floor: On the image projected into the window you can also see the table with magnifying lamp.

First floor / Reflection A: A slide projection fitted into the window shows a photographed window reflection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A mirror image burned into the glass, whose image has already passed

First floor / Reflection A: You can see a middle-aged man sitting at a table with a magnifying glass lamp and looking at the wooden structures.

First floor / Reflection A: View from the 1st floor: Through the projection in the window the protagonist has been given a face. His presence in the room takes on stronger contours.

First floor / Reflection A

stairs 1

Stair 1: View up to the second floor.

Staircase 1 / Note 5: Since the structures that the protagonist has studied for weeks seem strange to him, he checks whether anything on the tabletop changes.

Staircase 1 / slides A: The result of this experiment on one and the same day: Everything seems to be fine!

Staircase 1 / note 6: Only the slides he makes the next day and places on top of the slides from the previous day confirm his suspicion that something is wrong.

Stair 1 / Slides B: The incongruent lines create a chaotic image.

Staircase 1 / Note 7: Everything in his house changes every day.

1st floor: While trying to find an explanation for the frightening discovery, the protagonist creates abstruse thought constructions.

1st floor: He finds a plausible but strange explanation. This is illustrated in multimedia on the second floor.

1st floor: View from above.

1st floor / note 8: The protagonist starts to name his fears, tries to describe and sort his symptoms.

1st floor / note 9 : He tries to find images and comparisons for his mental crisis situation.

1st floor / note 10: A fixed idea crystallizes.

1st floor / note 11: The conjunctive becomes the indicative: the hypothesis that explains everything becomes the new reality of the protagonist.

1st floor / drawing : In a large technical drawing he describes the ever-growing underground structure through which the workers carry him down to the depths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INFORMATION "DRAWING" / BIGGER JPG. > CLICK ON IMAGE <

1st floor / drawing / detail

1st floor / drawing / detail

1st floor / drawing / detail: The drawing explains the large slope with the designation "roof" on the first floor. The next subterranean copy of the half of the house protrudes into the exhibition room. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INFORMATION "ROOF" (page 2) / > CLICK ON IMAGE <

1st floor / object "Helix": A large sclupture floats in the middle of the room, protruding beyond the first floor into the second. It corresponds to the drawing, but in contrast to it, it consists of two strands. How the second strand, which runs in the opposite direction, comes about will only be revealed on the third floor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . INFORMATION "HELIX" (page1) / BIGGER JPG. > CLICK ON IMAGE < Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

1st floor / table 2: A second table was positioned both centrally in the room and relatively centrally in the entire exhibition concept.

1st floor / table 2: A museum glass lintel secures the traces of a passionate work process.

1st floor / table 2: Between the documents and objects there are references to all other exhibits.

1st floor / table 2 / fountain,Orvieto: An opened book informs about a fountain in Orvieto, Italy from 1537. A "double helix", leads into the depth. A reference to the large hanging sculpture "Helix" on the 1st floor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INFORMATION "HELIX" > CLICK ON IMAGE <

1st floor / table 2 / iceberg model: An old newspaper article shows the iceberg model after S. Freud. It deals with the conscious and unconscious parts of the human psyche / A reference to drawing is obvious. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INFORMATION "DRAWING" > CLICK ON IMAGE <

1st floor / table 2 / model helix: A pre-conception of the large "helix"/ on the right side a slide (see reflections). Who worked at this table? Table 2 blurs the figure of the protagonist and the artist.

1st floor / table 2/ garden house model: This model of the garden house illustrates how the two halves of the house are pushed into each other to become the whole house. This is related to many aspects of the exhibition, e.g.: is it now clear who the man on the mirrors is and where these pictures were taken. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INFORMATION "ARCHITECTURE" > CLICK ON IMAGE <

1st floor / table 2/ Kafka quote: The novel "A man asleep" by Georges Perec also deals with the story of a man who has withdrawn from the world. Here is an introductory quotation from Franz Kafka on the subject.

1st floor / table 2/ Kafka quote: The protagonist from "Psychobuilding" falls out of the lonely silence and down into a rugged world inside. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Also on the picture: A Tschotki)

1st floor / table 2/ Grease sheet: sketch, made during the construction of the "Helix".

1st floor / table 2/ model utensils: were used when creating the videos on the second floor.

1st floor / table 2

1st floor / table 2 / original drawing: The drawing (behind the foil) was created during the early stages of the conception of "Psychobuilding". Only later was the idea applied to the architecture of the garden house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INFORMATION "DRAWING" > CLICK ON IMAGE <

1st floor / table 2 / labeling

1st floor / Reflection B: Here, too, a projector beams the slide of a photographed reflection into the window. The reflection of the staircase corresponds to the conditions of the room, but the house visible through the glass (new academy building) is actually on the other side of the garden house. . . . . . . . . . . . INFORMATION "ARCHITECTURE" > CLICK ON IMAGE <

1st floor / Reflection B: The actor of the protagonist of "Psychobuilding

Staircase 2: A turn in the narrative is also taking place on the second staircase. The delusions become independent.

Staircase 2: The protagonist has meanwhile lost all reference to reality, lives completely in his imagination, which opens up new options for action.

Stairs 2 / note 12: He can no longer bear his inability to act, he wants to end his foreign domination under all circumstances.

Staircase 2 / Note 13: Weeks of sleep deprivation intensify the productivity of his delusions. He discovers the access to the tunnel of his psyche.

Staircase 2 / Photography: The last showcase in the staircase area shows a found photograph of miners around the turn of the century.

Staircase 2 / Photography: The "buddies churning butter" put the visitor in the right mood for the events that will take the protagonist "underground" on the second floor. . . . . . . . . (In the background: three videos)

2nd floor / videos: The videos show the interior of the garden house in three different construction phases: Almost finished, in the shell and as a building pit. A worker of the respective construction site sits with his back to the camera in the foreground (puppet figures and model backdrops were used).

2nd floor / videos: The first construction site is located under the currently inhabited half of the protagonist's house, each further one position deeper in the overall underground complex (see drawing). The workers describe what it was like when he appeared.

2nd floor / Video 1: As he descends, the protagonist encounters the first worker directly underneath his half of the house. He explains in the video how unpleasant and annoying the newcomer was, which is why the know-it-all stranger was quickly complimented by the construction site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WATCH VIDEO > CLICK ON IMAGE <

2nd floor / note 14: In the showcase next to the television, the protagonist describes from his point of view how his first attempt at contact went. He has to admit his failure.

2nd floor / Video 2: He descends a second time, this time one house lower and ends up in the shell of a future copy of his half of the house. The yellow worker angrily describes his aggressive attempts to boycott the construction process, whereupon they had to chase him away by force. . . WATCH VIDEO > CLICK ON IMAGE <

2nd floor / note 15: His unchangeable fate of being carried further into the depths makes the fearful protagonist resort to more drastic means.

2. Stock / Video 3

2. Stock / Video 3

In a third attempt, he descends to the lowest point of the underground facility, into the construction pit. His new prudent and careful behavioral strategy significantly improves the overall climate of the construction site. In fact, the continuation of the building downwards stops, the direction is changed and the building is built upwards again. The blue worker cannot explain exactly how this happened. . .WATCH VIDEO > CLICK ON IMAGE <

2. Stock / Notiz 17

2. Stock / Notiz 17

The protagonist's depression ends after he has finally succeeded in bringing himself and the many forces within him into an equal balance.

2nd floor / Mirror C: Left in the window the third projection: The protagonist looking up. On the right the object "Helix" > The reason why it consists of two strands and not of one like the building on the drawing was provided by "Video 3": One strand was built downwards, the other one upwards again.

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