Rebecca Horn creates sculptures, performances, installations, and films that explore the relationship between the human body and the world it inhabits, both organic and man-made. This exploration began in 1968 when Horn contracted a lung condition that forced her to stop using sculptural materials like fiberglass and polyester. A subsequent period of hospitalization inspired a series of sculptures made from soft textile materials, reminiscent of bandages and prosthetic limbs.

These experiments led to the creation of wearable structures made of wood, metal, and fabric in the 1970s. For example, Horn added meter-long protheses to her fingers, or attached a mask of pencils to her head, forming fairytale-esque extensions to her own body that blended fantasy and reality in the performances that she filmed. In the following years, Horn made kinetic sculptures and installations bringing ordinary objects to life, such as mechanized trembling spoons, fluttering suitcases, or her iconic sculpture of two rhinoceros’ horns that meet in an electric kiss.

Rebecca Horn created a Love Thermometer for Luna Luna, a functioning thermometer marked with poetic words such as “magic,” “embrace,” and “loneliness.” The thermometer is filled with blood-red liquid that sits in the globe at room temperature and rises up the stem in response to heat. Audience members held the thermometer to receive a “diagnosis” in response to their degree of body warmth.