Untitled (KANAL)

"I wanted to do something around the repurposing. The workers' changing room presented a perfect opportunity. It is essentially a place of transition. Where you take off your civilian clothes and put on your work clothes. The workers [were] still present, in the form of stickers, the odd payslip laying around, the photos and names on the lockers. They turn the place into an 'in memoriam'. By reanimating the lockers, I focus attention on both the past and the future. The workplace becomes a work of art." Younes Baba-Ali in Glean, 2019.

In the changing rooms of the old Citroën garage, Younes Baba-Ali brings the lockers of its former workers back to life. At first glance, the place looks deserted. But then, with a little help from discreetly placed motors, the locker doors start to open and close randomly, as if operated by ghosts. Sometimes with a soft creak, sometimes with a loud bang.

Younes Baba-Ali turns the lockers into living witnesses of the collective history of the building. They also become instruments of metamorphosis: from individual to worker and vice versa. The installation connects the building's past with its future purpose. The flapping doors and metallic sounds evoke the transformation of the place into a museum.