Detours

A board game-like object in a slipcase documenting a public installation by the German artist Erika Hock on the façade of the Institute for Urban History, Recklinghausen in Germany.Sometimes a detour is the better way to reach your destination. Unexpected vistas and unplanned encounters are possible on an unforeseen route—sometimes the journey even ends somewhere completely different than expected. In any case, the detour has a worse reputation than it deserves. This can be seen impressively in Erika Hock’s work Detours on the façade of the Institute for Urban History: powder-coated stainless-steel tubes in red, yellow, green and blue run across the outer walls of the building, each ending in round acrylic glass lights. Here, Hock explicitly proposes to question the linear progression of time and, through the exterior design, offers a historiography for the interior that does not always have to follow the usual paths. Formally important, although initially unnoticeable, Hock’s concept also included the complete repainting of the façade in pure white, the closure of the clerestory windows and the accentuation of the remaining windows in blue-grey. During the day, the façade now appears in a color scheme reminiscent of the pictorial forms of 20th century classical modernism. At night, on the other hand, the façade is not illuminated as a whole by the end points of the chromatic lines, but is only visible at certain points due to Hock’s light sources. With Erika Hock’s work, an unexpected diversion can also become a rewarding event of nocturnal reorientation at night.—Nico Anklam