house in clouds, 2021
Incense sticks, perforated metal strap, 35 × 30 × 17 cm / and their eyes became sharper
A bundled package of incense sticks is attached to the ceiling of the exhibition space at an unreachable height. The hexagonal cardboard boxes, held together by a perforated band, are assembled in an almost floating, cloud-like formation.
house in clouds is, along with Morning Mist, Fast Luck, First Rain, Open Road, Money House, Unlock and Protection, one of the 20 different types of incense.
The motifs on the packaging, as well as their names in English and Spanish, as part of the exhibition and their eyes became sharper, touch on themes of social equality in the struggle for the right to housing and a dignified life.
house in clouds tells associatively of life on the street, the displacement from and loss of living space, and the dream of a safe home, but also the achievement of maximum returns in the housing market through speculation and the construction of new luxury apartments.
Each type carries a different scent, and they all blend together here, giving off a subtly perceptible odor from the corner of the exhibition space, even through the cardboard boxes, without ever having been used and lit as incense.
I brought Janusch, whom I met during my research in Cologne, the incense Protection to his camp under a highway bridge. He said at the time that he had good use for it: his friend in the camp suffered from severe infections on the leg which spread a very bad smell.
Incense sticks are used by different social groups nowadays mainly for ceremonial purposes and rituals for achieving emotional and spiritual balance, but also because of hope and desires, as well as to let go of feelings of despair and inadequacy.
Photo: Tamara Lorenz, liebschuh, Selma Gültoprak
Installation view: Martinetz, 2021