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SCHLAFBOX BERLIN

Installation in the urban landscape

Project

Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts and Design.

Bauhaus Universität Weimar

2013

 

Spleepbox for homeless

Polycarbonate Makrolon

220 x 147 x 147 cm

The SCHLAFBOX project investigates the social and political aspects of homelessness with the aim of opening up a discussion space by installing sleeping boxes in the city of Berlin. They are offered as "public services" and are available to homeless people at all times. The project sees itself as a kind of protest, trying not only to solve the problem of housing, but also to call the social problem of homelessness into collective consciousness.

The sleeping boxes are designed as "active" - as an exchangeable place, not as a residence (passive). The design of the capsules should correspond to the aesthetic logic of the city - "Berlin is cool and sexy" - and integrate itself superficially into the cityscape in order to draw attention to the essential questions. The goal of opening up a space for discussion can be achieved through a high presence of the capsules in places important for city life, through media mediation, i.e. the development of appropriate communication strategies (signage, posters) and through presence in the mass media (film, print media, radio, television, blogs and websites). The art object thus becomes an instrument for the apparent illumination of an unpleasant background; the parallel world of the homeless is pushed back into society. The capsules, visible and perceptible to everyone, conquer a part of the common social space.

F. Matthias Dörzbacher

F. Matthias Dörzbacher

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