Going Nowhere

I was motivated to put these urinals in such a public space for a multitude of reasons.

Firstly, like my “Lift-Installation” I found that the element of surprise was very important, especially when it comes to conveying a feeling of confusion or unease. It became quite clear that this surprise factor would be lost, should I decide to exhibit this piece in the usual white space.

Secondly, the setting opened up a multitude of discussions that I wasn’t prepared for when I first started planning this project. Most notably a number of co-students saw this installation as quite an aggressive masculine act, which sent me down a path of research about feminist architecture, gender data and the neutrality of public space.

Since I wanted this piece to speak for itself (in keeping with the spirit of the ready made) I had do refrain from putting my own video content on the LCD screen. I instead used “found footage” or in my case: Videos, that the company, who produced these urinals, made itself.

This thought process resulted in a row of four ready made urinals, neatly installed side by side at the exact height a normal urinal would be, playing self-referential advertisements. These urinals do not comment on any particular issue, nor do they attempt solve it. They are solely interested in their own reproduction, hence the row of four. A thoroughly cold and merciless display of capitalist nonchalance.

But at least some people peed in them while looking at the advertisements.