Garderobe oder Ausstellung? / Coat Check or Exhibition? My fellowship in Berlin includes a free pass to the museums. As I entered the Humboldt Lab Dahlem, I was faced with this image. At first, I thought it was some kind of modern installation. Then I saw some empty ones -- and I began wondering, "is this the coat check?" I turned the key, and saw the 1 euro deposit part and realized it was both functional and expressive.
I later read that this installation is called, "Identities on Display." Because the purpose of this lab is to "facilitate access to non-European art and culture" at the Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Asian Art, I can see the metaphor of shedding your skins to enter a different world.
