Behind Marclay's Doors

An entrance. An exit. A barrier between worlds. A tool to keep something out or to lock something in. For Christian Marclay, ‘Doors are fascinating objects, rich with symbolism […] They are commonplace, yet unfamiliar. We find ourselves wondering what is on the other side, where we may end up. There is fear and anxiety we associate with the unknown, but also anticipation and potential’. 

In his epic video montage Doors (2022), on display at White Cube Mason’s Yard until 30th September, Marclay splices together clips of doors from a vast range of footage that he has collected for over a decade. With each entrance and exit, we delve deeper into a labyrinth of architectural and cinematic spaces — each clip flowing into the next so smoothly, it creates ‘an illusion of continuity’.

From Sidney Poitier to Bill Murray to John Travolta, doors open to reveal new realms for the viewer to guide themselves through. ‘This video is very sculptural’, Marclay remarks, ‘it’s a sort of mental architecture that the viewer might or might not follow and get lost in.’

For architects, doors serve a similar sculptural function, crafting the way people move through spaces. As Marclay says, 'They can hide or reveal, express opposites of light or dark, exterior or interior, open or closed.' As such, architects also have the power to evoke feelings with the spaces they create.

Take a look at the doors below and see what they unlock for you.

A Touch of Whimsy 

Talk about otherworldly! Some of the most iconic doors in pop culture are undoubtedly the whimsical round doors of Middle Earth. The distinctive curves of the doors, burrowed into the hills of the Shire actually exist on the Hobbiton Movie Set in New Zealand — available to Airbnb, in fact.

The doors of St. Edward’s Church, Stow-on-the-Wold, however, are so fantastical that they are thought to have inspired the Doors of Durin in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy. The entrance to the 13th Century structure is flanked by two Yew Trees that have grown with the building over the years. 

A Splash of Colour and A Touch of Gold 

The Palais Royal in Fez, Morocco lies behind fantastic golden doors — detailed with star-patterned brass with cedar and zellige details. The luxurious gold comes to life with a splash of colour in the intricate patterned Moroccan tiles. 

The mid-violet purple of the door to Monica’s apartment in Friends screams 90s. The golden yellow picture frame surrounding the peephole is so distinctive, it transports you into the sitcom world of 1990s New York. 

Rock solid and Paper thin 

Doors provide security — keeping things out and locking things in. The heavy-duty metallic doors used in bank vaults takes that sense of security to a heightened level. 

In contrast, the paper-thin shoji is a door used in traditional Japanese architecture. The translucent material allows light to filter through, with lattice framing providing a structure for the doors to slide — dividing and unifying spaces. 

Official Business

The door to Number 10 Downing Street in London has seen many a Prime Minister walk through it since the building's construction in the 17th century. But did you know that the glossed-black Georgian-style door, with its lion’s-head knocker, is made from steel and has been since the IRA’s Downing Street attack in 1991?

The Columbus doors in the U.S. Capitol Building’s rotunda in Washington, D.C hold nothing back. Cast in bronze by artist Randolph Rogers’s, the doors chronicle Christopher Columbus’s life and weigh a hefty 20,000 lbs.

Christian Marclay’s Doors (2022) is on view at White Cube Mason’s Yard until 30th September.

By Elise Nwokedi