„Stelas“  (Cylindric Variation No. 5)      Online Exhibition, October 2019 to April 2020

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Brasileira


For this stela any constraints regarding the geometry are left behind. The focus moves from geometry to messages, interpreted and transmitted by various sculptural details carved on to a structure which is still vertical. This corresponds to the original idea of stelas where all sorts of inscriptions or symbolic ornaments were of utmost importance. The old obelisks from Egypt and the totem poles of the North American indians are most illustrative examples.


The stela consists of three parts placed seamlessly

on top of each other; it reflects typical human emotions:


Calmness   -  Alertness  -  Excitement


The raw pieces were old tree roots from Brazil

which found there way to Europe accidentally rather than by intention. All three pieces are from different types of tree, they are extremely hard and heavy, show an unsystematic grain structure, so they were not easy to carve or to move.



Height 195 cm

Platonic Stela Contrary to the harmonic stela the symmetry can now hardly be made out, although it still exists in a reduced form. The emphasis here is on the axial direction, which is achieved by putting identical objects on top of each other. In addition, the particular geometry of the individual part results in two different stela contours, depending on the viewing angle. So in this case we may see them as two different stelas. The geometry of the individual body is a regular octahedron selected from an earlier project. It belongs to a group of so called "platonic bodies" characterized by identical surfaces, side lines, and angles. So you can pile them up in any way, and the result will always be the same. The material chosen was mahogany plank. Height 162 cm
Harmonic Stela The perfect radial symmetry dominates the shape of this stela thus providing a harmonic and calm impression. As models for the five pieces we chose some clay artworks from different civilizations and epoques. Solid Western Red Cedar from Californian rainforest was taken as the material of the stela; it has an unspectacular graining and can be turned on a lathe without difficulty. Height 175 cm
Natural Stela Since the dawn of mankind the column (stela) has been used by artists to express something great; most probably this relates to the familiar shape of a big tree in the forest or in an alley which leads us to a deep respect and appreciation of nature. In contrast, the stelas created by artists mostly have served to praise the magical power of gods or emperors. Obelisks, victory columns, totem poles, etc. are good examples to be found throughout times and regions of the planet. In our project here we don't deal with the glorification of fictitious or of real characters; what we want to show is the metamorphosis of a geometric cylinder to a vertically oriented piece of art. It may be seen as an extension to earlier projects from 2005 and 2009.