Tacita Dean

In this photograph, I am sitting by the canal behind the Italian Pavilion. Every time a water taxi or a working boat passes, I get wet. Inside the pavilion is my 16mm film, Palast, which is of the reflections and refractions of the setting sun on the mirrored glass of the Palast der Republik, the former parliament building of the D.D.R. in Berlin—the city I have lived in for the last five years. Despite my move to a landlocked place, I am still perceived as a maritime artist, which is why I'm sitting next to water in this photograph.