It's not often you see small children at contemporary art exhibits. And for good reason: it's hard for adults to take in the breadth of artistic production these days, but for a child to make the leap from "Bob the Builder" to Matthew Barney is impossible.
Danish artists Henrik Plenge Jakobsen has a different idea about children in gallery settings. He welcomes their presence, and in works such as his 1998 “Laughing Gas House for Children” he depends on them to carry out the work's function. Through the union of a 'Little Tykes' Plastic playhouse and a canister of nitrous oxide, Jakobsen has created a ready-made and potentially interactive sculpture that can dope children into a state of mild hysteria.
The message sent is at best mixed. Depending on the opinion of the parent or guardian of the child, the work could be read as little more than a silly gesture encouraging “kids to be kids” by individually creating a more interesting and relevant experience in an otherwise unstimulating environment. On the opposite end, the work could be viewed as destructive--introducing a mind altering substance into a child's system behind the guise of “art”, subverting the “acceptable” setting the gas is used in, namely dental surgeries. In this sense, then, the work may be seen as no different than distributing alcohol to the children. Jakobsen remains ambiguous on the issue, summing up the work by stating, “It’s my experience that kids like drugs such as alcohol and also laughing gas”. Responsible? I'll have to think about it... Provocative? Very.
Check out more of HPG's work at http://henrikplengejakobsen.net
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