Laure Prouvost was commissioned by the Tate to produce a piece of art for the 'Schwitters in Britain' exhibition to commemorate the life and work of Kurt Schwitter; a leading modernist artist. Kurt Schwitter while in exile between 1940 until his death in 1948, worked on a number of installation, architectural and sculptural pieces, including a series of 'Merz' barns, the last one of which was situated in the Lake District.
In response to the artist, Prouvost created an original mixed-media performance piece which revolved around the story of her fictional grandfather; close friend to the artist. To make her story believable and to try and help the viewer form a more personal and emotional relationship with Schwitter, she used projection, photography and even recreated the inside of the Cumbrian 'Merz' barn so that the viewer could interact in the scenery that once the artist himself was submerged in.
What is perhaps so interesting about the work is that she does not reveal to the viewer how much of her story is fabricated, which means that it is a personal choice how much you believe and are pulled into her fictional world. Therefore, the interactivity of her work is one of it's most successful elements, as it really engages the audience and helps them to build their own emotional bonds to an artist soon forgotten and overshadowed by the modern art world.
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