Untitled (Rooms) 2001

These ‘Rooms’ by Rachel Whiteread, present us with stark, monumental casts that immortalize interior spaces. What does it mean to make visible what is normally unseen? The act of casting, of capturing the negative space, has ancient roots. Think of Pompeii, where voids left by bodies consumed by volcanic ash became haunting, lasting impressions. Here, Whiteread’s work is the same: a death mask of a different kind. The rooms echo the past, becoming containers for memory. The ghostly staircase, a recurring motif in art, suggests ascension but leads nowhere. It’s reminiscent of Piranesi’s impossible architectures, a labyrinth of the mind. This recurring symbol evokes feelings of longing and entrapment. These ‘Rooms’ prompt us to consider what it means to leave a trace, to create something tangible from the intangible, and how our inner spaces become monuments to the passage of time.