Collaborative work by Lena Stupitzky and Nick Förster The installation engages with the concept of "Locus Amoenus" - the desire for an inner place of harmony and security. The work reveals the tension that underlies this longing, situated as it is between states of harmonious bliss and feelings of isolation and vulnerability, between "Locus Amoenus" and "Locus Terribilis."
The installation consists of a small greenhouse with mirrored windows. Inside, a garden is created with artificial turf covering the floor, and two artificial fir trees spanning diagonally to create a space. A strong lamp is installed both inside and outside of the greenhouse, with the lamps dimming in opposing directions. When it is bright inside the greenhouse, the surroundings outside appear dark, and vice versa. This creates two distinct spatial situations for viewers to experience as they move freely in and around the greenhouse.
When the installation is lit from outside, the greenhouse becomes an opaque mirror, with the surrounding environment visible from the inside. As the light increases inside the greenhouse, an isolated, infinitely mirrored space is created in which the viewer is multiplied. The view to the outside is no longer possible, and for the viewer outside, the infinite space is visible, but their own reflection disappears.
The installation creates a play between the oscillating spatiality and the position of the viewer, shifting between immersion in infinite spaces and reflection of their own image, between different states of observation and being observed. By playing with this alternating perspective, the installation creates a bridge of identification between the individual search for "Locus Amoenus" and its ultimate unattainability.
