Rosemarie Trockel drew attention in the 1980s for her knitted paintings and minimalist pictorial objects featuring hotplates. Her oeuvre now encompasses the entire spectrum of artistic media. Her conceptual, at times humorous, artistic approach, with which she questions social role models and power structures, is a mainstay of her work.
Lobby ( 2011) is a ceramic sculpture consisting of eleven square, black-glazed hotplates installed on the wall in a predetermined grid pattern. Although ceramic is a fragile material, the plates’ color scheme and scarred surface are reminiscent of heavy, hewn metal. One of the panels is mounted on the wall at a 90-degree angle, suggesting a seat; however, it is unlikely anyone would want to sit on it, as it is supported solely by a fragile frame.
The title Lobby alludes to representative yet uncomfortable reception areas one might encounter in the entrance areas of hotels, companies, and office buildings. In a political context, however, Lobby also refers to interest groups that attempt to influence political decisions through targeted contacts. The similarity in names is no coincidence, as interest groups used to meet in the antechambers, or the lobbies of parliaments, to address their members. Trockel subtly touches on the various levels of meaning in her sculpture.