ROOM O, from Hildegard Rasthofer and Christian Neumaier, walkable sculpture (2023), 3.6 x 9.5 meters, mirror polished stainless steel, structural steel, multiplex panels, total weight 23.5 tons.

Centrally located in the courtyard of the Glyptothek in Munich. The object consists of six wings made of mirror-polished stainless steel, which form a space that can be entered from all sides in the form of a rotunda. The movable wings gently give access to the empty interior.

Flowing projections emerge from the movement of the curved wings – liquid, elusive shapes form on the surface of steel.

Room O has no defined entrance or exit and no predetermined optimal viewing position. The sculpture enters into a visual dialogue with the architecture, with the collection and with the visitors of the Glyptothek in the inner courtyard.

The author Elisabeth Katharina Maier writes in the exhibition catalog: »The visual events on the surfaces are fleeting and not reproducible. Each visitor perceives a reflection in a position-bound manner, which cannot be visible to other visitors in an identical way. Even attempts to take a selfie with one’s own hand at arm’s length are likely to produce unpredictable results for those taking the photograph, because the viewer’s eye never sees the same image as the camera lens.«

The smallest movements already change perception. The result is a game between exposure and protection, between showing oneself and hiding oneself – moments of disappearance and reappearance.

The loss of spatial orientation, what is real, what is illusion, what is reflection, what is the reflection of a reflection? – are questions of metaphysical importance, which offer impetus for theorizing, for fantasizing, for reflecting.