LSD Fountain: Victorian lead crystal glass, concrete, toughened glass, metal; the fountain is filled with 800 l potentized LSD.
LSD Hall model: wood, aluminium, inkjet print on paper, plastic, glass Anti-homeless bench: material variable
Certificate: Ink-jet and paint ball-pen on paper, painted wood, glass Proposal: ink on paper
Dimensions site specific
The unexpected sound of trickling water in the climate-controlled gallery is only one of many illicit elements that appear in Klaus Weber’s projects. Setting up a free-standing fountain with its own electric pump circulating water in an institution usually dedicated to preserving and protecting artworks from such elements is a typical maneuver by Weber. It also reflects the Berlin-based artist’s proclivity for creating installations that divert attention away from the objects on display toward the social dynamics and established customs reinforced by public spaces.
In Public Fountain LSD Hall, a bench, a fountain, and plants are arranged just as they might be in a public space. The liquid circulating in the fountain is actually potentized LSD. Potentization makes the hallucinogen into a homeopathic preparation, diluting it to a sub-molecular level so that it is no longer toxic. Through elements such as the hallucinogenic effects of LSD, the fountain made of Victorian crystal glass and modeled on the fountains at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, and the anti-homeless bench, Weber unveils the authority, the taboos, and the exclusion underlying all things public. Weaving irony and his unique playfulness into the work, he superimposes political and social metaphors layer upon layer.
*1967 Sigmaringen, Germany