Thomas HirschhornWorld Airport

From the land of waving palms to the villages of Kosovo, the world is connected through newspapers and airports. Together, they form a veritable “state of the world equation” which is the best way to sum up World Airport, an installation by Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn. Exhibited at the 1999 Venice Biennale, World Airport which will fill the entire gallery space, is a homemade, Fisher-Price like airport and lounge area, replete with a runway come parade of nation-states as airplanes emblazoned with logos in national colors sit prepared for take-off - The weather, the war-, business, pleasure- first class, third world - flight patterns and the flow of information have reduced the world to a ball of string with all its crisses, crosses and contradictions - a global Diaspora of businessmen, terrorists and tourists.

This exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago.