What We Thought Was a Wall Turned Out to Be a Curtain (Kyoto edition)

2025, street of Kyoto, Japan

While strolling through the hot streets of Kyoto, I came across a green-and-white wall with a metal plate painted to match it, which immediately reminded me of my green curtain called What We Thought Was a Wall Turned Out to Be a Curtain. I decided to add a small curtain to it.  Anyone who has been to Japan knows the great love and care for detail that is woven into everyday life. It is not unusual to encounter small sewn elements attached to stone sculptures in temples and along the streets.

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What We Thought Was a Wall Turned Out to Be a Curtain

2004, het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

I completed this work in 2004 after traveling through Central and Eastern Europe with a group of architects and artists from the Netherlands.

It addresses the relationship between Eastern and Western Europe, and what happened when the old borders disappeared, and new ones emerged. For me, the East–West metaphor reflects how we tend to perceive the world only from our own viewpoint, trying to fit everything we see and experience into the patterns of our own thinking. Meanwhile, perspectives change constantly and dramatically, whether in relation to people, architecture, or their social and political situations.

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What We Thought Was a Wall Turned Out to Be a Curtain (Berlin edition)

2023, Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, Germany

In 2023, I was invited to redo the piece for an exhibition curated by Max Dax called Cold Shelter/Schutzraum. I made a new curtain to fit the space. In the same room, as the curtain there was a portrait of Sven Marquardt, the primary doorman at the iconic Berlin techno club Berghein, made by Lucia Bauer.

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What We Thought Was a Wall Turned Out to Be a Curtain (Berlin edition)

2023, Halfsister, Berlin, Germany

After the exhibition in the Haus am Lützowplatz ended, I hung its curtain in my studio-and-event space at Halfsister and painted one wall dark green to match. Later, while deinstalling another work in Halfsister, some paint chipped off the wall and I realized that the room had originally been painted a different shade of green.  I adjusted the curtain accordingly and called it “The Berlin Edition”. This addition added a site-specific aspect to the work – in Berlin you don't need to dig far to discover history.