M E L T I N G   P A N O R A M A

Between fiction and reality

Increasingly, barely perceptible panoramic panes of glass separate animals from humans and humans from animals in zoos. In MELTING PANORAMA, an installation in public space in Berlin, one of these panes of glass was replaced by a pane of clear ice. With the melting of the ice pane during the exhibition, not only the boundary of the enclosure disappears, but also an image that is very familiar to us.

Panoramic window made of ice

From May 10th to 11th, a zoological exhibition situation in the form of a 70m² wild animal enclosure was staged in a Berlin backyard. This consisted, as in the zoological garden, of a two-dimensional illusion painting and a matching three-dimensional backdrop. In the middle of it was kept a wild animal (red fox).

Unlike in the zoo, however, the visitor was not standing in front of a panoramic pane of acrylic glass, but in front of a pane of frozen water that began to melt from the moment the exhibition opened. With the melting of the ice, not only the partition between animal and human disappears, but also the boundary between fiction and reality.

With the melting of the window of ice, a way opened for the animal into the public urban space. As the fox climbed out and tabbed away, not only the animal disappear in the urban space, but also the familiar image of the forest, as the natural habitat for the fox. Like London and Zurich, Berlin (the city) has become a natural habitat for numerous wild animals, including the red fox.

Installation in public space     
Panoramic window | 170,8 × 96 × 4,5 cm     
Berlin, GER | 2014     

Documentation

The installation in public space was documented on video. The video shows the entire melting process of the ice panorama window during the whole exhibition. It was presented for the first time on June 25, at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg.

Video     
8 h | 1080p     
© Copyright | 2014     

Special thanks to:
Julia Frankenberg, Alexander Petschner and Marco Faria

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