berlin cube
construction by: oxford brookes university students, reenie elliott, jason griffiths.
installation type+location: generated by a series of walks in no mans land, berlin (the ultimate ‘blank space’), the cube is a space for a game. operating as a 3 dimensional game of snakes and ladders, it consists of a series of restrictions from which means of escape are proposed. the means of escape are the elements of a typical medieval german town: bridge, well, inn, dungeon, stair ladder. It was built in headington hill hall and the ashmolean museum in oxford.
invisible elements:
1- observation in no mans land: bulletholes appear in the brickwork arches of the railway viaduct which crossed from east to west berlin. these are evidence of the many people who were shot at as they tried to escape into the west. lina and stephanie set up a series of mirrors so as to redirect light into the dark recesses of the railway viaduct, in order that the bulletholes in the shadows would be made visible.
2 - an appearance of simplicity and clarity of construction belies the true experience of space and structure. the lower floor is designed to be lower than you would expect, and therefore claustrophobic. the circulation route through the structure is deliberately confusing, and difficult to negotiate. what you see is not what you get. this ambiguity is intended to embrace the inclination towards propaganda in berlin architecture and urban space.
completion date: 2000-1