Nervous Bench – Langen Foundation, 2018
Site-specific intervention on museum's bench; dimensions variable. © Photo: Bettina Diel 2018
[What] form does presence take in the absence of a body?
Nadia Kaabi-Linke poses an answer to this question in the form of company for the exhibition visitor. Her Nervöse Bank (2017) is a typical viewing bench for galleries, with one alteration: when visitors sit down on the bench, they activate a hidden mechanism that runs a compilation of nervous ticks-the movement of restless legs, for instance- that have been collected in various transit places and waiting-halls in administrative offices. The movements are conveyed through the vibrations of the bench, imbuing the furniture piece with specific individuals‘ anxieties. The remnants of another are thus translated through furniture to the viewer, fundamentally altering their experience of the exhibition space by way of a presence rendered through a mere gesture.
— Gianni Jetzer
Excerpt from "I Is Another," im: How to See [What Isn't There]. Burger Collection Hong Kong 2018.
