Bed with Wheels is not just any bed: together with the work Magic Carpet, it is part of a research into the origins and history of artist Laura Pan's birthplace, South Tyrol - Alto Adige - Südtirol.
Her Heimat.
Bed on Wheels is a mobile structure made from the wood of an old barn in Corzes, Vinschgau, mounted on four wheels and swivelling in space.
It is made of old larch wood, recognisable by its dark red colour, which has been used over the centuries for the construction of barns typical of the Vinschgau Valley. The barn and stable from which they originated belonged to one of the first farms in the valley, dating back to around 1200. On some of the beams one could still recognise engravings of ancient Celtic runes and traces of quicklime used to disinfect the stables.
The wheeled bed has its own precise shape and height.
It was designed for the space of the only fascist-era barracks still standing in the Vinschgau, the Druso barracks in Silandro.
The height of the bed is half the height of the space of a dormitory, while the width follows the dimensions of the room's one large central window.
The wheels allow it to be moved around the space, thus changing not only the viewpoint but also the perception of space.
The bed on wheels - built with elements belonging to the landscape and witnesses to the passage of human history in the artist's home territory - is intended to be a metaphor for the passage of time in the landscape, how it changes according to the materials used for housing, and the traces it leaves in everyday life.
Like the work Magic Carpet, Bed with Wheels is also firmly linked to space, to home, and, again, to territory.
Do you see that this is no ordinary bed?