“Actually … a rather unpleasant place”.

Multisensoriality and Perception of Space in Witness Reports of Dieter Roth’s Former Workshop with Selbstturm; Löwenturm (1969–1998) in Basel

Abstract

The former studio of the Swiss artist Dieter Roth (1930–1998) in Basel houses his work Selbstturm; Löwenturm (1969–1998): cast figures made of chocolate and sugar stacked on top of each other form two towers that continuously change and decay due to the degradation of their components, which is what the artist intended. Roth’s former workspace is filled with odours created during this process. As part of a research project, room and work were documented using multi-perspective witness-reports, a method developed in the context of conservationrestoration. The resulting verbal reports contain numerous descriptions of sensory perception, illustrating how strongly multisensoriality and spatial perception as well as spatial construction are linked.