At first glance, the two objects by Kerstin von Gabain evoke a feeling of old-fashioned or even romantic domesticity. The little iron stove with its distinctive flue might come from a peasant cottage, while the masonry-like open hearth conjures up the midcentury dream of home ownership. In fact, our visual expectations deceive us here, and we misjudge both the dimensions and the material. These objects are made from cardboard and are much miniaturized versions of their “real” cousins. Despite their somewhat basic construction from lightweight material, they give the impression of robust hardware.

The artist, who sometimes likes to use artificial intelligence in finding her motifs, is playing with simple geometrical forms (cylinders, cuboids), creating immediately recognizable, concretely “real” objects from painterly abstractions. What the observer falls for is an (optical) illusion, which is an ancient motif, just like a second old favorite from art history: mimesis or imitation. In a text about Kerstin von Gabain’s artworks, Inga Charlotte Thiele points out that perception of imitated objects always also involves the experiences and feelings of the observer (https://artviewer.org/kerstin-von-gabain-at-exile-2/). We become trapped in an endless loop of viewing and categorizing. Small interventions, for example changing the usual size of things, can then trigger uneasy or uncanny thoughts.

One of the sides of the fireplace is painted purple, which makes it illuminate the wall behind with a toxic glow. Even the slight opening of the stove door may be enough to produce a queasy feeling. It’s not just the appearance of these objects that undergoes shifts in meaning, but also the societal divisions that the objects help to illustrate. Depending on your socialization, profession, or geopolitical background, the image of fossil energy may make you feel cozy, conveying much-needed protection against the cold, or it might be the relic of a former age, standing for a recklessness with resources you perceive as either a warning or a threat.