REALTY CHECK, 2009
public art commission for 4 elevator lobbies in the 3rd floor of ABM Generali Cologne
mirror metal, aluminium

The new building of ABM Generali in Cologne has four independent elevator systems, which allow a flexible entrance to the office spaces. Leaving the elevator in the 3rd floor the employees are confronted with a glass wall behind which differently curved metal mirrors are installed. Each elevator lobby varies through the convex and concave shapes of the mirrors, which distort the space ornamentally, forming a horizontal, vertical or diagonal wave. Each room gets a different atmosphere in the framework of this serial work. Moving through the space the passer-by create constantly new effects. Space and body are dissolving to abstract forms, a step later they get distorted, strechted or blurred, similar to distorting mirrors in a fun house. The opening of the elevator door becomes a theatrical moment and confronts the passer-by with a distorted image of reality. Before entering the office corridor the lobby situation constructs a playful irritation in the routine of daily work. As a gap between the different levels of the company it becomes a surreal landing zone before re-entering reality.
Beate Engl Beate Engl Beate Engl

Beate Engl