(born Oldenburg in 1954)
Restroom, 1984, 3 parts, one inscribed, signed and dated HOT AIR MACHINE Made in Greece 1984 Th. Schütte, metallic and enamel paint on wood and metal, variable dimensions, (PP)

Provenance:
Jean Bernier Gallery, Athen
Private Collection, Germany

Exhibitions: Athens, Thomas Schütte, Jean Bernier Gallery,1984/85;
Krefeld, Thomas Schütte, Museum Haus Lange, 26 January - 16 March 1986, exh. cat., ill. p.p. 58–59;
Bonn, Thomas Schütte - big buildings: Modelle und Ansichten, Kunst- und Exhibitionshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 15 July - 1 November 2010, exh. cat., p. 82 with ill.

As Rainald Schumacher notes, „Restroom, 1984 is, in fact, made out of the materials left over from the production of the work Das Bad [another sculpture from 1984 that consists of a white canvas on the wall bearing the work‘s title and a number of open wooden forms that look like washing baskets] for [an exhibition at] the Jean Bernier Gallery in Athens. HCH was the title of the exhibition and stood for the abbreviation for hot, cold, hot. The room is an expression for a practical understanding of the material: quite simply to use what is at hand. Along with the play on words between the English and German meaning of the title, the three parts [of the sculpture] make up a narrative ensemble. The ‚hot air machine,‘ the ‚ventilator‘ and the ‚four chairs‘ could actually be objects (though somewhat strange) from a room for repose, i.e. a restroom.... In many of Schütte‘s works, narrative structures play an important role. The objects, the spatial situation and the context point to a story without wanting to provoke or imitate a verbal tale.“
(Rainald Schumacher, „Rearguard-Back to the Future,“ in Thomas Schütte, Munich, 2001)