Museums in Motion

Photo by Gareth Gardner

Museums in Motion 1989

Wood, paint, glass, lacquer

77 x 322 x 13 cm (overall)

DJ Lockhart, London

This work is a triptych that depicts three different buildings using the elemental shapes of square, circle, and triangle. The circle forms the centre of the triptych, and inside this work is the plan of the panopticon. This is a type of prison building, and an accompanying system of control, which was designed by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The idea behind the panopticon is that a single security guard positioned at the centre of the plan can observe all prisoners without the inmates being able to tell whether they are being watched. This compels prisoners to regulate their own behaviour. The other buildings in the triptych are Palladio’s Villa la Rotonda in Vicenza (square) and the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt by Hans Hollein (triangle).