Grossberg's 'Traumbilder' (Dream Pictures) were also accompanied by a photographic dialogue partner: a 2013 photo by Thomas Demand (born 1964). The scene – a view into a small room with colourfully patterned tiled floors – appears mysterious, almost eerie. There is a rectangular opening in the floor, but viewers are denied a view inside. On the right, an open door leads to an adjoining room, but this too is in darkness. The photograph thus presents its viewers with a puzzle: what can actually be seen here, and what cannot?
Demand's photographs are often based on images he has taken from the media and recreated as life-size models made of cardboard and paper. Most depict political or social events. In the case of this motif, references to the sources used can be found on the artist's website, including a historical press photo showing two men looking into a hole in a wooden floor, which, according to the caption, is the place where arsenic was found in a German bakery in 1946.
Similar to Grossberg's 'Traumbilder' (Dream Pictures), Demand's photos often seem enigmatic, partly because they show scenes that elude the viewer's understanding. They raise questions about the context and logic of the representation.
- Location & Dating
- 2013
- Material & Technique
- C-Print
- Dimensions
- 180 x 171,4 cm
- Museum
- Thomas Demand, Courtesy the artist and Matthew Mark Gallery / Sprüth Magers / Esther Schipper Berlin / Taka Ishii Gallery
- Inventory number
- X26.170