»STARCAST« – Pop-Up Store for a Fictitious Company

For a period of two weeks, Anne-Lena Michel used the Galerie Verteilerebene, which is located in an underground station in the Ruhr-area city of Essen, for the location-based project STARCAST.
Both in the promotional phase, which went on for several days in the run-up to the launch, and during the project’s opening hours, the window of the gallery was covered with STARCAST advertising posters.
During opening hours on two days, there was only a small gap in the window front admitting people to the largely undefined and hidden-away company. A photoshoot set-up was installed inside the gallery, where any passers-by who were curious enough to enter the space were photographed. These photos were printed in duplicate on-site, with one copy being given to the person photographed and the other remaining with the artist.
After the opening of STARCAST, the photos were shown in an exhibition in the same room.
STARCAST appeals to the curiosity of passers-by and focuses on the apparently innate human desire for stardom and fame, which can also be seen in the omnipresence of talent shows.
On the two opening days STARCAST’s previously blank construct was filled with content. The Galerie Verteilerebene space, which is normally seen from outside and in passing, became a temporary platform for those who pass it day in, day out as observers.