Flamboyant Wallflowers

You could say each fire extinguisher holds its breath waiting to be used. I describe my fire extinguishers as tasteless and therefore eye-catching while at the same time flamboyant wallflowers that nobody pays attention to. The more fire extinguishers I started collecting the more I found out the unique aspects of each extinguisher. At some point I could even see the beauty in them. They all bring another history, whether they are used for practice, at a birthday party or in a life-threatening situation. Some have never been used and get abandoned.

By creating installations with my fire extinguisher collection, I investigated the notion of safe spaces. By repetitively collecting these objects, I started to see a fire extinguisher as a symbol for a phantom security. In large numbers it displays an extreme false security.

Did they each fulfill their job? Do they make a safer space?