Cell No. 1 1992

Absalon’s ‘Cell No. 1’ is a structure, a habitation, a thing to be lived in – or not. The piece feels like a question, something between architecture and sculpture, like a proposal for how to live. I wonder what it was like for Absalon to make this. The smoothness and stark whiteness, the pure form, like a minimalist painting but spatialized, a painting that you could live in, even. The door is ajar, inviting, but also makes me ask, who would live here, and why? Is it a refuge, a prison, a womb, a tomb? It is one colour: white. It brings to mind a blank canvas, an essay without words, a life pared down to its barest necessities. It reminds me of other artists who were interested in simple forms like Agnes Martin or Hilma af Klint. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, using art to work through how to live.