New Media Series: Saskia Olde Wolbers, “Placebo”

Saskia Olde Wolbers (Dutch, born 1971) creates films in which her hand-built environments become the primary vehicles for expression, suggesting both the physical and metaphorical spaces between people. “Placebo” is loosely based on the life of a man who spent 18 years pretending to be a doctor for the World Health Organization in Geneva. In Wolbers’ reimagining of the story, an unnamed and unseen narrator wakes in a hospital bed after being in a car crash with her lover, Jean. The narrator’s voice reveals that Jean—whom she had believed to be a doctor with a family—was neither a husband nor a physician. Rather than face his false identity, he attempted to kill them both in the crash. Liquid slips, bubbles and pops over the hospital walls’ wiry frames as the narrator’s mind becomes fused with the site of her unfolding narrative. Curated by Renée DeVoe Mertz, the Museum’s former Aronson graduate intern for contemporary art, “Placebo” will be on view in Gallery 301 from August 1 through October 26, 2008. Free. For more information, please call 314.721.0072 or visit www.slam.org. Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm; Friday, 10:00 am–9:00 pm; closed Monday