Control Room
Artist
Thomas Demand(German, born 1964)German, 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)
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
PhotographyObject Type
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.
Published References "Media Study: Thomas Demand," Artforum International, vol. 51, no.1(September 2012): 228
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
Mark Klett
2000–2005
Chromogenic print
2019.351
