At Home II 

Curator: Eckart Hahn's "At Home II" is such an odd painting, isn't it? The flat space is reminiscent of a child's room, yet there's a certain unease to the work... How do you interpret what Hahn is doing here? Editor: I am interested in this painting's representation of home, constructed as an unnatural habitat for animals in the painting. The whole thing reads to me like a stage set, the backdrops very clearly "artificial." Curator: Exactly. And the use of the painting medium itself – isn't there a sense of artifice emphasized by Hahn? Consider how "realistic" the rendering of the animals are against the background. Editor: You're right. They feel… pasted on almost, challenging any semblance of an illusion. Do you think the high realism contrasts intentionally with the constructed materials, the wood, and the flatly painted backgrounds? Curator: Definitely. The visible 'making' of the image is foregrounded, highlighting a system of production. Consider the labor involved: the detailed painting versus the simple carpentry. The 'home' isn't a natural haven, but an object produced for consumption, right? These aren't animals at "home," these are animal objects staged to seem "At Home." Editor: It makes you think about what “home” really means then, especially if it can be manufactured and sold as a unit. Curator: Absolutely. This work reveals that the 'natural' and 'domestic' are themselves products, carefully constructed. Editor: Thanks! I hadn't considered the labor and the manufacturing of nature. Now, the artist’s statement definitely rings clearer. Curator: Of course. Hahn lays bare the production behind familiar images of comfort, both natural and artificial.