A room filled with the lightness of floating, patterned balloons seems like an invitation to play and dream. But on closer inspection, the decorations on the balloons prove to be scenes of torture. The resulting atmosphere is fraught with tension between the conventional associations we make with balloons and the serious message they convey here. What is portrayed, in all its violence and enormity, clashes with the seemingly innocent whimsicality of the installation’s outward appearance. But the comic-strip style of the drawings and the levity of the balloons have the effect of heightening, rather than tempering, this dark aspect. The viewer is forced to reflect. Here, ornament and terror are as closely linked as orders and obedience in the mind of the unscrupulous, unfeeling torturer. Matthias Reichelt
I Surrender, since 2006
Part of the multi-media project Thousand and one Days, consisting of digital drawings, wallpaper, flip books and animations; Marching Bands and Just a Minute
Photoprint on foil balloons, helium gas, black lace
