This recent commission for the German-born and Brooklyn-based artist Markus Linnenbrink is in stark contrast to what one would expect to find as a visitor to a prison. Yet this is exactly what it is. The new prison in Düsseldorf, Germany named Justiz Vollzugs Anstalt, is said by the artist to be a model institution and thus in keeping with its treatment of both humanity and security, a unique approach to the visitor’s entrance was needed. The artist describes the project stating.
Visitor access has to be underground by law in newly constructed prisons in Germany. This tunnel covers the 40m (about 132 feet) between the security check in the front building and the visitors area in one of the inner prison buildings. Concept for the installation was to create a 3 dimensional painting that follows and surrounds the visitor during the walk through the tunnel. Two sets of diagonal stripes that both grow wider while covering the distance build two different perspectives.
