Spanish artist Santiago Sierra, who was born in 1966 and now lives and works in Mexico, has been provoking audiences with his social-critical actions since the early nineties. At the Venice Biennale in 2003, he had the Spanish Pavilion walled in and guarded by security personnel, and only allowed Spanish citizens with a valid passport to enter. Since then, Sierra has been one of the most frequently discussed contemporary artists in the world. His most recent project, the installation Haus im Schlamm (House in the mud) for the kestnergesellschaft, links the institution's history with the history of the city of Hanover. Using the origins of Lake Masch, which was created in the middle of the city as part of a government employment program in the nineteen-thirties, Sierra addresses the question of what work is really "worth," a recurring theme in his works which is especially pertinent today. The book is an important part of the project in its own right. It includes historical text and image material along with a photo-documentation of the installation accompanied by explanatory texts. Exhibition schedule: kestnergesellschaft, Hanover, February 11-April 10, 2005