Silent Room
Space is provided for sixteen people. The chairs are arranged like soldiers in an army, aligned in perfect formation. No gaze can cross another, no subtle gestures can be exchanged. It is the epitome of efficiency, of controlled space. The massage chairs, each tilted at the same angle, are like small islands of tranquility, each of us immersed in our own world of
thoughts, expectations.
A partition to my left is the right partition of my front man, and if I follow the straight gaze forward, I see the left wall of the person in front of my neighbor. Our booths, which seem to amplify our silence or the echo of isolation itself resonates within them.
Interior
The home is best kept free from external influences. For the sake of cleanliness and because one wants to escape the outside world. We bring it in through our skin and clothes and through food. Everything else is kept out by doors, windows, and walls. Only I myself am still a host for the dirt I bring in through the barriers. That's why shoes are removed as soon as possible, skin is washed, trash is taken out, toilets are flushed, and clothes are washed at regular intervals.
Appendage
It's strange to see a tree that is openly in need of help and walking with a crutch. Perhaps just a precaution, yet unusual, as everyone has tried pitifully to split the roots at some point to dig deeper somewhere. Even with a spade, it's a sweaty job. The oak is always firmly rooted, even if everything else around it crumbles. Perhaps just a precautionary measure, as mentioned. Because of wind and other factors, as the tree was hastily planted. When the roots take hold, the ring can be removed. Then the tree is allowed to spread out like people in old age. Headwinds no longer bother it. Only the spade could still cause harm there. But it's not coming because the tree is done now and doesn't want to spread out anymore. It only wants to grow tall, if at all, because it doesn't know any different.
Riding the Line
I am riding the line
I am riding the line in a direction
I am an extension of form along the line
In the periphery between two points
The line takes me somewhere
I am a moving shape on wheels
I am a moving point
Attached to the line
2023, Chengdu, Sichuan
Philipp Groth