 Cube Venice, 2005, graphic elaboration, copyright Gregor Schneider, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2008 Gregor Schneider has always worked with spaces. He became known above all through his labyrinthine-hermetic Haus u r, which has been in permanent adaptation since 1985. Engaging with space stands in the centre of Schneider's Cube project. Originally he was interested in the way the Kaaba, the central sanctuary of Islam, represents the prototype of a house and yet encloses a completely isolated space amidst hundreds of thousands of people. Moreover, it references to all three monotheistic religions, as well as western modernity. In 2005 the Cube Venice was supposed to be shown in the context of the Venice Biennale. Yet, because of political censorship – even though there is no ban of picturing the Kaaba in Islam –, that did not happen. Instead of that, it circulated in the media as a phantom of the Islamist threat. It was not until 2007 that Cube could be realized in Hamburg and demonstrate its peaceful potential for dialogue. Gregor Schneider, * 1969 in Rheydt (D), lives and works in Rheydt (D) Natalia Schmidt (Curatorial Concept), * 1981 in München (D), lives and works in Berlin and Karlsruhe  Gregor Schneider / Natalia Schmidt Cube Documentation, 2005-2008 selected documentary materials (photographs, drawings, video) courtesy Gregor Schneider Michèle & Mischa Kuball Black Cube/apple NYC, 2006 3 photographs courtesy Michèle & Mischa Kuball Klaus Biesenbach Cube, 59th Street, New York, 2006 1 photograph courtesy Klaus Biesenbach Natalia Schmidt, Boris Burghardt, David Howoldt Cube Collage, 2006 video (colour, sound) 23 min., loop courtesy Natalia Schmidt, Boris Burghardt, David Howoldt Further research material (photographs, press articles, video) Essays by [amongst others] Jimena Blázquez Abascal, Eugen Blume, Yasar Erdogan, Angela Vettese
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