Introduction

Originally the work consisted of 26 glass lockers in di erent sizes, which complemented the already existing wardrobe in the entrance area of the museum. There were low, long vitrines for classes or groups, as well as high, narrow ones for single adults and group wardrobes for 2–8 persons. Equipped with a locking system, these wardrobes were distributed like plinths in the entrance hall. The visitors were invited to hang their coats, jackets, and bags in the vitrines. These ever-changing exhibits remained there for the duration of the visit, protected as in an ordinary locker, but visible for other museum goers.

The garments left by individual visitors may be considered akin to portraits of their absent owners. Analogous to the exhibits in the ethnographic museum for which the project was rst conceived, the belongings in the glass cases allow others to infer information about the time of year, national and cultural background, and possibly about age and gender of their owners. Examining the objects left by other visitors in a setting usually associated with works of art, the vitrines questions the habitual assumptions we bring to exhibitions. At the same time, since these are the belongings of people like us the normality of the objects may produce a special voyeuristic interest: one that remains largely unexamined when we look at “art.”