Plaster board and framed photography
240 x 240 x 45 cm

The starting point of this work is a series of photos that we have taken in Los Angeles in 2005. The series documents the specific design of a prison and the adjacent public space in Downtown Los Angeles. The prison is characterized by the fact that it is outwardly similar to the office buildings of its surroundings, so passers-by don't notice the real purpose of the building. Even the interior design resembles a hotel or convention center. In his book "City of Quartz" (1992) the sociologist Mike Davis cites one of the inmates of the prison, saying: "Can you imagine the mindfuck of being locked up in a Holiday Inn?"
The object is like a folding screen made from folded plaster board. It refers formally to the façade of the prison with the wedge-cut windows. A framed photograph that shows the park in front of the jail is affixed on the object.
The work was realized for the exhibition "fully booked" in the former Hotel Beethoven, Bonn. .

© Wiebke Grösch/Frank Metzger