(124)
In Memoriam Mollusca, Wilhelmsthal Castele, Kassel

COMPETITION ORGANISER
MUSEUMSLANDSCHAFT HESSEN KASSEL

LOCATION
CALDEN

PROJECT TYPE
SCULPTURE

COMPETITION
ART COMPETITION

The shell sculptures are covered with a deep-green layer of moss that fills the grotto conches in Wilhelmsthal Castle Park. 

Stemming from the original construction period, the theme of shells is picked up on and given a new role: instead of acting as a decorative background, ornamentation or a building material for sculptures, as would have been the case in the Roccoco period, the shell becomes a protagonist itself. 

IN MEMORIAM MOLLUSCA also transfers shells to the present day on another level: by choosing three endangered shell types, the artwork attracts attention to the rapid worldwide decline of shells as a result of climate change and marine pollution.

The forest scent and the gradual changes in the moss growth make the artwork a sensory experience and invite people to visit it more than once.
(094)
KISWA PERISCOPE, UNIVERSITY OF TÜBINGEN

CLIENT
LANDESBETRIEB VERMÖGEN UND BAU BADEN WÜRTTEMBERG

LOCATION
CENTRE FOR ISLAMIC THEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF TÜBINGEN (D)

MATERIALS
FABRIC, ARTIFICIAL STONE, MIRRORS

MEASUREMENTS
1 X 1 X 7 M

IMPLEMENTATION COSTS
EUR 90,000.00

At the University of Tübingen’s Centre for Islamic Theology the KISWA PERISCOPE will provide a location where science and faith can be combined, allowing the themes of  covering and revealing to coexist.

A strip of obsolete Kiswa, the material of the holy Kaaba from Mecca, is presented in the library. A periscope stele in the library’s inner courtyard allows the textile and also the library activities in front of it to be observed from the plateau.

The project is currently being implemented and is due to be completed in 2022.
(093)
PAUSENHEIMATEN

CLIENT
PANKOW COUNCIL, BERLIN

LOCATION
MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY HIGH SCHOOL, BERLIN

MATERIALS
SOLID SPRUCE WOOD, LAMINATED, WAX-OIL VARNISH

IMPLEMENTATION COSTS
EUR 136,000.00

“L‘art pour l‘art”, or “art for the sake of art”, which the French philosopher and politician Victor Cousin declared in the mid-19th century and according to which, art was intended merely as an end in itself, “detached from all aims alien to it” (trans. German Universal Lexikon, online, 2019), defines itself by its own uselessness, although this is now only one of many perceptions of art and how it should be. Today, one can bathe in, recline on or walk through artworks, as well as wearing or even eating them.
Above all, art that is bound to a specific location and affects certain realities is often the result of concrete intentions, goals, appropriations and uses. Thus it is surprising that the genre of “art in architecture”, which by definition affects real locations, is almost exclusively dedicated to a lack of purpose, often even a lack of aims. 
The artwork “Pausenheimaten” explicitly formulates its uses and aims.

“Pausenheimaten” (“Breaktime homes”) is the design of two contrasting wooden sculptures entitled “GANZ DA” (“ALL THERE”) and “KURZ WEG” (“BE RIGHT BACK”) in several repetitions. The aim is to offer temporary homes or refuges to pupils at the Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy High School. Our own experiences teach us that schoolchildren usually leave classes in one of two moods. Naturally, these two moods can be expressed in countless different ways. There is a rather extroverted mood, where one has an urge to express or learn things, but above all communicate. These pupils can use the cluster “GANZ DA” as an appropriate space to express themselves. Alternatively, one can start the break in a more introverted fashion: as preferred by those who are contemplative, tired or simply want to give their minds and voices a break. These pupils can use the other cluster “KURZ WEG”, providing both a space and protection. 

IMPLEMENTATION 2018 – 2021
(091)
SPATIAL ORGAN, ZIONSKIRCHE, BERLIN

PROJECT TYPE
COMPETITION FOR THE ARTISTIC DESIGN OF A NEW ORGAN AT THE ZIONSKIRCHE BERLIN

LOCATION
ZIONSKIRCHE, BERLIN

Not only the sound of the new organ at Berlin’s Zionskirche emanates into the surrounding area: the organ itself shapes its own space. A “forest” consisting of groups of pipes has been installed on the galleries, offering a new experience for visitors, listeners and worshippers as the enjoy the music. The spatial organisation of the sound sources also provides the organist with the potential to interpret the music in ways that standard organs are unable to achieve.

The organ concept picks up on sacred functions and traditions, while also referring to the social significance of the location: as a place of social openness and interaction (Dietrich Bonhöffer, “East Punk” concerts, the environment movement, Neues Forum etc.), the organ presents itself in a way that can not only be seen from outside, but is also walkable, allowing one to move between its components, gather together and interact with others within it, making it a suitable response to the time and the place.

2ND PRIZE, MARCH 2019
(066)
SPATIAL VOLUME GESTURE, ART FOR THE STAATSOPER BERLIN, COMPETITION, 3RD PRIZE

ORGANISER
CITY OF BERLIN

LOCATION
STAATSOPER BERLIN

PROJECT TYPE
SPATIAL INSTALLATION

COMPETITION
ART COMPETITION, 3RD PRIZE

Minimal contact transforms two-dimensional surfaces into autonomous gestures. Volumes interact directly with the space, creating a spatial-volume gesture.

The confectionery’s 24 wall areas are used as components that express physical gestures. What one sees is physical elements in the process of executing a gesture; implicit movement.

A hand, a finger, or an ankle touches the stretchable material and forces the entire surface to expand in that direction. Only the physical elements that touch the material become permanent in the artwork. The rest of the gesture has evaporated. 

Are they actors on the stage, pressing their way through? Do the movements originate from ballet or opera? Or are they parts of everyday gestures? Is it not a completely normal elbow, like the one of the lady holding a champagne glass? No, are these hands not in the process of darning something? Are these perhaps the people behind the scenes, pushing their way through? Some of the 800 Staatsoper employees?

The presented gesture fragments enable a wide range of interpretation, while offering leeway for the visitors’ imagination and inspiring contemplation on aspects of physicality, disembodiment and the organism of the opera house, with all of its active processes in motion.
(065)
THESE LITTLE THINGS ARE EVERYWHERE BUT ONLY FEW ARE EXAMINED BY AN ARTIST, BIMSB BERLIN

CLIENT
MAX DELBRÜCK CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE

LOCATION
BIMSB BERLIN-MITTE

MATERIALS
ARTIFICIAL STONE RECEPTACLE, 26,000 POLYETHYLENE BALLS, RELEASE SYSTEM, LED LIGHTING

IMPLEMENTATION COSTS
EUR 90,000.00

A magical space and also a logically calculated location is being created in the staircase of the BERLIN INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL SYSTEMS BIOLOGY. Fluorescent balls fall at programmed intervals from the top floor, dropping over 20 metres through the stairwell and collecting in a receptacle on the ground floor.

In Detlev Ganten’s quote on Max Delbrück, he names a key common aspect of art and science. Above all in the field of molecular medicine, and also in the arts, the aim is “to make the invisible visible”. The idea for this artwork springs from engaging with and further developing this concept. The result is a play on the “almost invisible”. The artwork elevates the investigation of tiny particles in systems biology (cells, genomes etc.) to a scale that is visible to the human eye, making it physically and aesthetically perceptible.

140 balls fall through the stairwell during the course of the day. The rhythm at which they fall is orientated towards the mathematical characteristics of normal distribution. By experiencing  a complete cycle of falling particles, observers can grasp the mathematical characteristics of normal distribution through the visual, acoustic and physical rhythm of the falling balls.

THE ARTWORK WAS PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC AND ACTIVATED ON AUGUST 30, 2019.
(061)
MASSES IN MOVEMENT – HAMM 2015, COMPETITION, 3RD PRIZE

ORGANISER
CITY OF HAMM

LOCATION
HALDENFAMILIE AM LIPPEPARK, HAMM

PROJECT TYPE
WALKABLE SCULPTURES

COMPETITION
ART COMPETITION, 3RD PRIZE

5 massive, secretive figures define the top crests of the heaps known as Schacht Franz Nord, Radbod, Sundern, Kissinger Höhe and Humbert. Despite their varying heights and widths, they have three common elements that make them clearly recognisable as members of the same family: all five sculptures are based on the cubature of a cylinder and all have volumes of exactly 100 cubic metres.
Furthermore, all five sculptures are made of the stone from the heap upon which they stand.
Engagement with the City of Hamm and its post-mining landscape is therefore direct, by building with the location itself. Stamping makes the waste material, the location and the landscape a defining quality of the sculpture.
(043)
SPHÄRE G1 – MUNICH 2013

ORGANISER
CLINIC OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH

LOCATION
MARCHIONINISTRASSE, MUNICH

PROJECT TYPE
WALKABLE SCULPTURE

COMPETITION
ART COMPETITION

Competition for the artistic design of the outdoor areas – Clinic of the University of Munich
New construction of the Centre for Stroke and Dementia Research

The walkable sculpture “Sphäre g1” affords various use and appropriation options to people walking through it, be they patients, visitors or researchers. The sculpture allows different interpretations and becomes whatever is closest to the relevant person’s imaginative world.

While one person might enter a cave-like object where they feel sheltered and find peace, another rings the bell and feels that the sculpture is probably a small, unusual chapel. A third person is overcome by the sense of a journey into their own brain as they enter the round volume, while a fourth might adopt the artwork as their favourite lunch-break location, to eat a sandwich in bright natural light, despite being protected from the weather.
(032)
FAULT, VILLA ROSENTHAL, JENA

CLIENT
JENAKULTUR

LOCATION
VILLA ROSENTHAL IN JENA

MATERIAL
TAMPED CONCRETE, WOOD, STEEL 

PERFORMANCE
CONCEPT AND IMPLEMENTATION

CONSTRUCTION COSTS; COST GROUP
EUR 60,000.00

DIMENSIONS
5.5 M x 5.0 M x 3.8 M

Both a folly and a piece of contemporary art, the work “Dismissal of the Conquest of a View” does not quote any architectural typologies, such as a temple or cathedral, and instead refers to a view and therefore a form of landscape; its reference is not a historical object, but the mountain it faces.

The sculpture was constructed by StudioGründerKirfel itself together with students at the Bauhaus-Universität-Weimar.

Just as a city can be twinned with another city, the Villa Rosenthal also has a partner location: the fault called the Studentenrutsche situated in the Jena mountain range known as the Kernberge. A fault is a break in the stone, a geological disturbance that sets two rocky areas against each other. In the case of the Studentenrutsche, the terebratula zone (lower shell limestone) on the southern side was lowered by around 6 metres compared to the northern side. As a sign of the link between both locations, a walkable sculpture, a new folly, was erected in the garden of the Villa Rosenthal, its inner space providing a targeted view of the opposite Kernberge. The partnership is noticeable even before one enters the sculpture, since the exterior shell reflects a striking shell-lime structure of the opposite slope.

The approach attracts attention to the unique potential of the location, focusing on the cliff-top situation and thereby guiding the view into the distance.