Working with extraordinary precision, Christian Haake (b. Bremerhaven, 1969; lives and works in Bremen) builds miniatures of three-dimensional spaces: a kitchen, a trailer, a ticket counter, a compulsive hoarder's apartment. His objects never refer to a specific existing place, as his aim is not to generate an identical replica, but rather to bring out the difference between the planes of reality, perception, and the remembered image. For the exhibition "White Elephant", which this book documents, Haake built a model of a sixties-style store entrance set into the elongated room of the hosting institution. The architecture he found thus becomes a backdrop for potential plots. The term "White Elephant" refers to an East Asian curiosity: the region's peoples regarded a white elephant as a sacred animal that brought great prestige, but the upkeep for this prized possession--the animal must not be set to work--not infrequently meant financial ruin for its owner. With an essay by Thorsten Jantschek and a preface by Janneke de Vries.
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