A decade ago, Jacqueline Hassink (*1966 in Enschede, the Netherlands) captured images of desks and conference room tables at what were at the time the largest multinational corporations in the world. Today, the artist is taking another look at the headquarters of the approximately fifty companies that the American business magazine Fortune lists as the most powerful actors on the market.For our Edition Hatje Cantz the artist has selected three especially impressive contrasting pendants. Each set contains two photographs of the offices of Siemens, Volkswagen, or Eni, and each photograph has been taken fifteen years apart, so that together, they present a sense of “yesterday/today.”The photographs of the Siemens offices show that the situation obviously changed a great deal during the years between the two photographs. The new interior design was completed just days before the photo shoot was scheduled to take place.Volkswagen is a different case: the interior design of the executive offices has remained the same since the headquarters were opened in 1959, in accordance with the tastes of the current CEO. The space is used only for the weekly executive meetings, while the board meets elsewhere.Usage of space at the largest Italian company, Eni, a natural gas and energy concern, is more flexible. Despite the spectacular view, the room on the 19th floor is only used about ten times a year for board meetings, although many other types of events take place there. Accompanying the photographs is an artist’s book, bound in wood and containing additional figures, dates, and facts, as well as personal descriptions and the artist’s entertaining commentary about the individual companies, offices, and people, her attempts to make contacts, the preliminary meetings, and photo shoots, along with many other pictures.
