THE CAMERA OBSCURA / OF THE HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS / PERMANENT EXHIBITION

THE CAMERA OBSCURA / OF THE HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS / PERMANENT EXHIBITION

One could enter the building of the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts through two different gates if the one at 71 Andrássy út also functioned. Long ago, when this entrance was also used, in front of the thick oak gate there was a small semicircular niche with doors to prevent cold air from directly flowing into the building.
As I like taking the conditions of a building or a space into consideration, I decided to arrange my exibition at the end of the 1993 academic year here, on these few square metres. This small space was given, a peep-hole in the thick oak gate and a surface opposite it bordered by doors. The distance between the hole ande this surface inside the niche is an ideal place for the camera obscura. This camera obscura has existed here at the Academy since the moment the peep-hole was bored out and the niches was built. Unfortunately few people have noticed this phenomena and this is why I found it necessary to make it and project the picture on a 3m x 3m cardboard the inverse image of the opposite building and a segment of the busy road also appears, accompanied by sounds as well, as the person in the niche is separated from the outer world only by a 5 cm-thick oak gate. This is the place where we are not inside the building but we are not outside either. If this room does not get back its original function as an entrance, or if it is not converted into a pub (as many would like it), it will hopefully provide a lasting experience for many for years. But if it ceases to exist here, somebody will surely rebuild it some time, either here or somewhere else.