大抵每個人小時候都有類似的奇怪像想，尤其在睡前：假如能在野外露營；假如可以越過窗子，飛到天上靠近月亮。也總會試過在房間架上營帳，裝作露營；或者將被子繫在上格床架作鞦韆，幻想能盪到天上去。在房間中建立另一個世界，另一個房間。德國藝術家Gregor Schneider兒時也有古怪的想像。在晚上，他會想：如何以不同的物料鋪滿房間，把自己與外界完全隔絕。年長一點，他迷戀上發生過凶案的樹林，那些滿注了強烈並駭人記憶的地方。每次走出密閉的空間，總想了有可怕的尖叫留在房間中，縱使裡頭是空無一人。
Schneider擅長在空間中建構空間，在物理的空間中建構潛意識的空間。大抵就是白話講的「形住有啲嘢」，即使是獨自一人在屋內。在德國明斯特藝術及文化博物館新翼的旁邊，地址是Pferdegasse 19，是N. Schmidt的「家」，也是Schneider在今屆雕塑展中的作品。Schmidt先生的「家」是兩組擺設完全相同的房間組合，每次只能容納兩位訪客。訪客會先走進充滿消毒藥水氣味及滴水聲音的洗手間，裡面有座廁及花灑。然後是另一個房間，再另一個房間，裡頭有鏡子、衣櫃、窗子以及白色的窗簾。每關上道門彷彿有人跟在身後，每打開一道門會想：門後有沒有人呢？空氣中都是古怪的氣味，走過三個房間，迷宮一樣發現沒有出路，這時或許會卻碰上另一位訪客，他或她會問：「究竟出口在哪？」
Schneider將人類腦那一層層的「疑心生暗鬼」的心理狀態，重建於實體空間中。在一個空間中建立另一個空間。他的作品是視而可見的空間，就是Schmidt先生的「家」，但當中有另一個無形的空間，就是參觀者的心理反應。主觀的心理反應影響參觀者對房間中風吹草動的解讀，於是空無一人的房間彷彿身後有人，兩組完全相同的房間，似是沒有出口的迷宮。
至於Schmidt先生是誰？他就是Schneider房間世界中的主人。
Imagine yourself camping in an open air, or you have the ability to fly through the window; you keep flying until you reach the moon. Was this one of your childhood fantasies? Some of you might have tried to set up a tent in your room or make a basic swing by tying a blanket to the upper bunk bed. You imagined the tent was under a blanket of stars, you imagined the swing could fly you to the sky. Same for the German artist Gregor Schneider; little Gregor also had a childhood full of bizarre ideas. During the night, he would fantasize about painting his room with some sort of material that could isolate him from the world. As he grew older, he began to get obsessed with a forest where a murder case took place, he was enthralled by the memory that never ceases to haunt the space. He would envision himself in a confined space and suddenly hear a horrifying scream; even if he was the only one in the room.
In the new wing of the Museums für Kunst und Kultur Münster, on Pferdegasse 19, Schneider constructed an apartment that belongs to N. Schmidt. This is also the work Schneider did for the Sculpture Project 2017 in Münster. Mr. Schmidt’s home consists of two identical rooms that only allow two visitors at a time. The visitors will first encounter a strong scent of sterilizer and water dripping sound from the bathroom that consists of a toilet bowl and a shower. In the next room, there are a mirror, a wardrobe, windows and white curtains. You can constantly feel there is someone else in the room — you feel like being followed when you close a door, you have a sense someone is behind the door when you open it. A curious smell lingers in the three-room apartment. The setup resembles a maze, you keep walking until bumping into another visitor who asks “where the heck is the exit?”.
Schneider recreates human’s delusional fears using the physical body of the apartment. He created a space within a space. While Mr. Schmidt’s apartment is the visible layer of his work, the mental status of the visitors is the invisible layer. The subjective mental status affects how one interprets the two identical rooms. This is how Schneider tricked the visitors into suspecting the presence of the third person in the room and turned the apartment into a maze without an exit.
Who is Mr. Schmidt? He is the owner of the room constructed by Schneider.
