from 1:1 to infinity
already there
appropriation
identities

Graz / Austria
House of Architecture Graz .... 1998
Installation
"F 90"

When transbanana were invited to "10+10", the 10th anniversary celebration of the House of Architecture, we were asked to bring with us an object that was to represent the approach of our office. While the other invited office, L.O.V.E, came up with a powerful portable heater - we devised a project intended to undermine the talking about a representational object within the white walls of an architectural institution. .

We decided to work with 3 anonymous and clean figures, which 'were already there' as used on the fire-escape signs on the doors to the second staircasehall. 3 times for 3 floors the anonymous figures were labelled with orange letters.

We positioned 'The Client' on the ground floor, 'The Architect' on the first floor, and 'The Money' on the top. All running away.
.

The 3 figures were exactly mirrored by 3 'Wild Things' on the back of the doors. The stair hall was bathed in a yellow light and to the sound "wild thing ... you make my heart sing ..." from the Troggs, the whole stair hall turned into a rumbling yellow space of fire and desire.

The fire door as a borderline between the 'traditional exhibition space for architecture' and the space for 'emergency escape' represented in that way not only different identities on each of its sides, but also the different desires, contradictions and struggles in our sides, in ourselves.

Surprisingly - during the event the letters disappeared. Visitors took them in order to take a little piece of an identity home with them. The identity of the figures fell apart - "the money", "the client" and "the architect" are spread over the whole town now, maybe the whole world.