#1. THE RECEPTION
BACKROOM 1987-2012
Antoni Muntadas
Division of Labour, Worcester
Backroom 1987-2012 is a durational installation which reoccurs in various locations over a number of years creating a conversation about the private, public spaces in every institution and the transparency of the activities that take place therein. Backroom is a version of another work called Quarto do Fundo – backroom from 1987. Muntadas placed a CCTV camera in the backroom of the Louisa Strina Gallery in San Paulo, access to this room was barred by a rope. The backroom in a commercial gallery is a space for keeping archives, documents, the store of works and most importantly where many dealings in the art market are made.
“Technology forces the door of the secret and the indiscreet camera unfolds what belongs to this category of the invisible, the constitutive principle of the exercise of power.” Muntadas/Volume 1 Between. pg 241
