Queer Bar/Powerless Structures

Is a bar still a bar if you can’t get a drink there? The Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset confront you with the unexpected in this installation Queer Bar, where bar stools are placed inside the bar while beer taps are on the outside. With the typical positions of these objects now reversed, they no longer function.

This notion of functionality is precisely what the artists want us to think about in their longstanding series called Powerless Structures. The works in this series, such as this one, often deprive objects of their usual roles, revealing the flimsy nature of “power structures” which only hold power if we agree to let them.

Queer Bar also resists public engagement. It seems to invite you in because you can approach the bar, but because you can’t actually drink there you’re obstructed. These elements of rejection and distance are enhanced by the clinical appearance of the bar, thanks to its clean form and cold white surfaces, which reference both Minimalist sculpture and Scandinavian modern design.

Queer Bar was created in 1998, when gay culture was starting to become more mainstream. However, by creating a bar which denies entry or function, the artists highlight that spaces for the gay community have historically been restricted or excluded, and often continue to be so.