Exhibition “a shop is a shop is a shop” at Kunsthalle Wien. Installation view with works of Jimmie Durham, Renate Bertlmann, Helen Weber, Riki Werdenigg, Mathias Leberbauer, Maria Belova and Klaus Pichler. Curated by Klaus Speidel. Photo by Klaus Pichler.
ESCAPEWORK, 2022
sound installation, 20’35’’
A sound installation is an intervention in the museum’s shop space that is present in the exhibition “A shop is a shop is a shop”, but is technically behind a closed door covered with a mirror foil. The sound mimics the voice of an employee who communicates with visitors through an audio announcement system. The voice obsessively repeats a sequence o homophones (words that are pronounced the same way but differ in meaning) that matches the name of the work, as if there is correct keyword to escape.
The performers, who played the role of assistants throughout the exhibition, interacted with the work by knocking on the door to ask the person behind it to repeat the word again. They would then ask visitors exactly what they had heard, and depending on the answer, the continuation of the tour would change.