Barbara Breitenfellner's Frustrating Greenhouse Installation at Bureau d'art et de recherche

At the Bureau d'art et de recherche in Roubaix, France, from May 17 to June 28, 2003, German artist Barbara Breitenfellner presented 'Film (non-réalisé),' a greenhouse installation that denies direct access. The 4.5-square-meter prefabricated structure, made of aluminum and plastic, contains carnivorous plants, a pile of 16mm and 35mm films, an editing table, a hair curler machine, a WWII postcard, fluorescent tubes, and a photograph of a physicist. Unlike immersive works by Ilya Kabakov, Mike Nelson, or Gregor Schneider, Breitenfellner locks the door, preventing any clear view. The polycarbonate panels are striated, distorting vision, and only a triangular cutout allows a partial glimpse. This rejection forces the visitor into a voyeuristic position, reminiscent of Duchamp's 'Étant donnés.' The work inverts the typical inside-outside relationship, leaving the viewer with only the container, as if the artist preserved residues of an ineffable story before cleaning the gallery space.