Thomas Demand
Control Room

Control Room

© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Control Room
Control Room
ArtistGerman, born 1964
CultureGerman
Titles
  • Control Room
Date2011
Place depictedÖkuma, Japan, Fukushima Prefecture
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 78 3/4 × 118 1/4 in. (200 × 300.4 cm)
Sheet: 78 3/4 × 118 1/4 in. (200 × 300.4 cm)
Mount: 78 3/4 × 118 1/4 in. (200 × 300.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by "One Great Night in November, 2015"
Object number2015.528
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

For this photograph, Thomas Demand
constructed a life-size cardboard-and-paper model of the control room of the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan that was damaged by the
earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. His source image—a politically
charged snapshot taken surreptitiously by a power-company insider and widely
circulated in the media—belied the company’s assurances that everything was
under control. A photograph of a model of a photograph of reality, Control Room is a metaphor for the
elusive nature of truth and trust—whether in corporate ethics or in documentary
images.




ProvenanceArtist; Sprüth Magers, London (artist's dealer); MFAH, 2015.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Pile (Staple)
Thomas Demand
2001—02
Chromogenic prints
2011.625.A,.B
Detail XII
Thomas Demand
2012
Inkjet print
2023.517
Bomb squad bulletin board, abandoned airbase control room
Mark Klett
2000–2005
Chromogenic print
2019.351
Thomas Nast
1879
Wood engraving on newsprint
89.712.2.A,.B
cropped recto of sheet
Thomas Sutherland
c. 1817
Hand-colored engraving
85.315
cropped recto of sheet
Thomas Sutherland
c. 1817
Hand-colored engraving
85.316
Lew Thomas
1987
Chromogenic print
88.8
Family Portrait
Prince Varughese Thomas
1996
Chromogenic print
2000.196
Portrait (C. Pilar)
Thomas Ruff
1989
Chromogenic print
2002.3037
Fish I, Northern View
Barry Thomas Underwood
2002, printed 2003
Chromogenic print
2004.821
After Dark Skin/ White Masks
Prince Varughese Thomas
1999
Chromogenic print
2000.214