2005, series of 5, ink print, screenprint
on frosted glass, each 50 x 40 cm, framed
Photo exhibition view: Simon Vogel, Galerie Christian Nagel,
Cologne, 2006
Grand Masters of Deception: Joachim Boilstedt (GMDT/II/2005)
The last few years leading up to his retirement had been somewhat unfulfilling for Joachim Boilstedt; since 1991 he had been working as a part-time gardener in the municipal parks in Saalfeld. So in the spring of 2002 the 63-year-old decided to become a cosmonaut. Boilstedt thus built a spaceship out of metal and plywood in his own garden and took off. He stayed in his rocket, which he had christened Mission Future, for 63 days. Boilstedt had thought of everything; his spaceship had an ingenious supply system—an electric cable supplied a mini television and a cooling box; he used a drainpipe to answer the call of nature; and his wife brought him supplies through a small porthole. “He likes semolina and rice pudding best,” she informed the local press. Through his peephole he told passing onlookers all about his voyage through outer space. It was pretty cramped in the spaceship, but here at least he didn’t have any problems with weightlessness. Everything stayed in its proper place. Boilstedt, who had been a driving instructor for tanks in the People’s Army, lectured a school class on the structure of the solar system and the possibilities of inhabiting Mars. He explained to a group of visitors from Fulda who happened to be passing by that he was an expert on Soviet space technology.
The last few years leading up to his retirement had been somewhat unfulfilling for Joachim Boilstedt; since 1991 he had been working as a part-time gardener in the municipal parks in Saalfeld. So in the spring of 2002 the 63-year-old decided to become a cosmonaut. Boilstedt thus built a spaceship out of metal and plywood in his own garden and took off. He stayed in his rocket, which he had christened Mission Future, for 63 days. Boilstedt had thought of everything; his spaceship had an ingenious supply system—an electric cable supplied a mini television and a cooling box; he used a drainpipe to answer the call of nature; and his wife brought him supplies through a small porthole. “He likes semolina and rice pudding best,” she informed the local press. Through his peephole he told passing onlookers all about his voyage through outer space. It was pretty cramped in the spaceship, but here at least he didn’t have any problems with weightlessness. Everything stayed in its proper place. Boilstedt, who had been a driving instructor for tanks in the People’s Army, lectured a school class on the structure of the solar system and the possibilities of inhabiting Mars. He explained to a group of visitors from Fulda who happened to be passing by that he was an expert on Soviet space technology.
