Continuity (sculpture)

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Max Bill: Granite sculpture continuity at the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt am Main. Image at its new location, the Deutsche Bank high-rise buildings in the background on the right

The sculpture Continuity by Max Bill (also known as the Colossus of Frankfurt ) is a major work of the Zurich School of Concrete and was created on behalf of Deutsche Bank for the forecourt in front of the twin towers of its headquarters at the Taunusanlage in Frankfurt am Main .

description

Since 2011, the sculpture has been in a water basin in a newly created green area next to Deutsche Bank.

On the occasion of an energetic refurbishment of the “Twintowers”, the sculpture was removed from the central forecourt in 2007 and placed in the immediate vicinity of the twin towers on Mainzer Landstrasse . In autumn 2011, the sculpture was placed in a green area near the Deutsche Bank high-rise.

The image was created from a raw block that weighed 180 tons and for the transport of which a road from the Sardinian quarry to the main road had to be heaped up before he could take the ship to Marina di Carrara . There the “continuity” was shaped and polished in two and a half years of work before it could be set up in 1986. This created one of the heaviest granite sculptures in the world.

According to Max Bill, the installation site of the "continuity" formed a total work of art with the surrounding buildings. According to the art critic Werner Spies, “continuity” is one of the “most impressive sculptural works of our time”.

Contrary to popular belief, the sculpture is not an example of a Möbius strip , but, according to Jakob Bill, the artist's son, a strip with two edges.

Development of "continuity"

Max Bill is one of the representatives of the Zurich School of Concrete , who developed forms in the 1930s that do not occur in nature. One of these forms that he realized was the “Infinite Loop” (1935–1937), which he developed from a paper form and which can be viewed as a pre-form of “continuity”. It came about when Bill was asked to design a mold for an industrial exhibition in London to be set up in front of an electric fireplace. The sculpture was not finished in time and so it was exhibited at the Triennale di Milano in 1936 , where it was hung as a ribbon over a column. Visitors to the exhibition made him aware that it was a Möbius strip , whereupon he lost interest in this canon of shapes.

A Möbius strip only appears to consist of two edges, but has only one circumferential edge and thus forms an endless shape . This mathematical phenomenon, known as the Möbius strip, was first described in 1858 by two mathematicians independently of one another and named after the astronomer and mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius . Max Bill intended since the 1940s to design the living space with means of modernity, rationality and technology and was of the opinion that art can be developed on the basis of mathematical thinking. Since then he has also dealt with the control of the color energies of geometric surfaces and bodies.

In the mid-1940s, the Möbius strips found his interest again and he had a small brass mold made from a paper model. When he was asked to make the “Infinite Loop” as a sculpture at the Zurich Cantonal Trade and Agriculture Exhibition from August 23 to October 19, 1947, he made it about three meters high. In 1947 the work was to be erected in the arboretum on the edge of Lake Zurich for a limited period on boulders in the nearby Sihl valley and remained there until 1948. The sculpture consisted of plaster of paris on a steel frame that had been coated with an aluminum spray process. Since it was not weatherproof, it was supposed to be removed again in 1948. However, before it was transported away in April 1948, it was destroyed by an act of vandalism in the course of the Sechseläuten , a festival of the Zurich guilds . The destruction of art led to a discussion about art hostility. In this dispute there were numerous protests by artists, including Henry van de Velde and Rolf Liebermann . The sculpture was thus depicted and known worldwide.

Max Bill: "Rhythm in Space" in Hamburg

After Werner Spies, his occupation with ribbons led him to the execution of several models and other works, such as the “three-part form” (1946–1947) (117 × 100 × 90 cm), a polished chrome-nickel steel casting, which is in the Museu de Arte de São Paulo is located, the “Infinite Loop” (1935–1953) (150 × 100 × 120 cm) made of polished Tranas granite in the Essen city garden and the granite sculpture “Rhythm in Space” (1947–1949) (225 × 25 × 250 cm) in Hamburg at the Kennedy Bridge on the Outer Alster .

In several reviews of the "Infinite Loop" it was stated that such works should also be monumental.

In the 1980s, Deutsche Bank contacted Max Bill and intended to set up a large sculpture in front of their new building in Frankfurt. At first Bill did not want to design the small forecourt because he thought it was too small for large sculptures, and when asked for suggestions, he thought of a mosaic column. The advisers to the board of directors of Deutsche Bank then suggested that he should do another project with ribbons. At first he resisted, but after the unanimous decision of the bank's board of directors and out of interest in the technical difficulties of “continuity”, only a granite version of this topic came into question for him .

When Max Bill presented the “Continuity” model to the board of directors of Deutsche Bank, he had three larger gold-plated brass models made from his original brass model on a scale of 1:20 to illustrate the proportions.

reception

Side view of the sculpture

The work of Max Bill has a high priority in his personal oeuvre, as it contains a reference to the continuity of his work. Bill had worked for years with geometry , stereometry and trigonometry and mathematical equations and in 1949 published the study "On the mathematical way of thinking in art". The continuity is the expression of a basic understanding of Max Bill: "I am of the opinion that it is possible to develop an art largely on the basis of a mathematical way of thinking".

Max Bill's first sculptures in public spaces, which represent a change in space, surfaces and volumes and are difficult to see through for the observer, met with resistance. The first version, which Spies calls the `` infinite loop '' and others also call it continuity and is also considered the forerunner of the granite monolith `` continuity '', is said to have been destroyed by right-wing extremists in Zurich. For Bill, who was an anti-fascist, the continuity in a review of the film by Erich Schmid: Max Bill - the absolute sense of proportion is brought close to a gesture of reparation.

Anne Schloen sees in the work of the infinite loop to the continuity from 1946 to 1982 that the “finite infinity in infinite motion is further potentiated by the properties of the surface of the sculpture”, because when Bill had continuity made from gold-plated brass models in 1982 , the materiality of the sculpture was sublimated and the sculpture "dematerialized".

According to Werner Spies, “continuity” was a “mixture of infinity, omega and cosmic snake” for Bill . The shape of the "infinite loop" already inspired art connoisseurs and their viewers at that time, and the same thing happened with "continuity". “The wonderfully harmonious lines overlap in front of the transforming viewer to create ever new beauty, which are as numerous as the points of view that can be taken in front of the work.” The work of art “Continuity” takes up the architecture of the environment and is based on the direct encounter of the viewer and it seems less constructed than the Zurich Infinite Loop .

Manufacturing

Quarry and rock description

Sample plate of a Rosa Sardo of the Rosa Beta type (approx. 25 × 20 cm)

Originally, a height of 6 meters was planned for the "continuity", but the decision was made for a height of 4.5 meters, since numerous power lines had to be crossed under during the transport through Frankfurt.

On October 20, 1983, a stone block with a size of 450 × 750 × 460 cm was blasted off, which was then split off and reduced in size by the quarry workers with stone splitting tools in seven weeks of work to form a polyhedron , because the weight of the raw block was maximum due to the existing transport options 180 tons.

The pale red, light Rosa Sardo of the Rosa Beta type from the Scarraciana quarry, near Tempio Pausania in northern Sardinia, was selected as the natural stone material . This granite contains alkali feldspars , which have been colored reddish by finely distributed hematite . The granite types of Rosa Sardo contain white to beige plagioclase feldspars and gray quartz . The black biotite gives this natural stone its granular structure. The Rosa Sardo contains around 25% quartz.

Transport in Italy

Before being removed from the quarry, the raw block had to be lifted so that the transport vehicle could drive underneath, and outside the quarry it was reloaded onto another vehicle. In addition, a provisional road had to be built with a fastening depth of 100 to 150 cm up to the main road so that the large load could be safely moved on the 52 meter long transport vehicle. Even so, the vehicle sank several times on the makeshift road.

When it was being transported on the roads of Sardinia, the bishop blessed the vehicle and it was escorted by the police, who closed the roads to the port in Santa Teresa Gallura for two days to through traffic. The raw block rested on a steel structure that was supported by two special seven-axle chassis and was supposed to distribute the load evenly across the road. The transport vehicle was pulled and pushed by one truck each. In the port, the trucks were uncoupled and the raw block on the chassis, including the steel middle section, was pushed onto a barge. A ship towed the barge into the port of Massa di Carrara on February 20.

Making the sculpture

When the granite block arrived in Massa di Carrara, which serves as a European transshipment point for natural stones from all over the world, it was transported to a secluded location near the port below the high-altitude route of the Genoa-Livorno motorway, where it was benched and processed for two and a half years. The workplace was chosen because the Carrara area is home to numerous stone sculptors who were able to create this highly complex shape. The Belgian sculptor Dominique Stroobant was in charge of the stone carving work on the sculpture .

The model of "continuity", made of plaster of paris, had been made on a smaller scale. The stone sculptors had to transfer the dimensions of the plaster model using a special enlargement process called the three-circle method . The model was enlarged four times and transferred to the granite monolith . With the application of the three-circle method , steel compasses and specially made large wooden compasses were used, which, due to their size , had to be stopped by up to three stone sculptors to measure the original.

In the first work steps, the largest protrusions of the granite raw block were cut off with a wire saw , which drives water-cooled ropes with diamond-studded saw elements. With the help of the three-circle method and hand-held tools ( hammers , chisels , angle grinders and hand grinders ), the outer contours, the shape of the sculpture, were first created by the stone sculptors. In addition to the wire saw, stone splitting tools were also used to remove larger stone protrusions. During the work, a total of 100 tons of stone was wasted.

Then the openings of the sculpture were sawed out with the help of a wire saw and the raw block had to be turned once, which happened on March 22, 1985.

The fine work, sanding and polishing of the outer skin took a whole year. Not only the outer surfaces of the belt, but also the inner turns of the belt had to be ground and polished.

From August 4 to 8, 1986, the "Continuity", which now weighs only 80 tonnes, was welded into a steel structure for ship transport and brought to the nearby port between August 12 and 13. An ocean- going ship transported the sculpture to Rotterdam until September 2nd , where it was reloaded onto an inland transport ship in the direction of Frankfurt.

On September 7th, the 80-tonne work of art arrived in the Osthafen Frankfurt, was loaded onto a special transporter and placed with a crane on the three prepared granite pedestals in front of the Deutsche Bank at Taunusanlage 12. There are different statements in the literature about the importance of “continuity”.

Lineup

Left of the two towers, on the premises in a newly designed area
Continuity at the new location as seen from the main tower

When Max Bill, who traveled frequently to Italy, saw the size of the sculpture in its final form, he determined that it would be placed on three plinths on the forecourt of Deutsche Bank ( 50 ° 6 ′ 49.1 ″  N , 8 ° 40 ′ 7 , 5 ″  O ) should be placed. His idea was that the visitors could sit in front of it, which would also allow an interior view of the sculpture.

In 2007 the sculpture had to be relocated due to renovation work on the Deutsche Bank buildings behind it. Sensors were attached to the sculpture that were supposed to detect any destructive stresses occurring during transport in order to protect the work from damage. The "Continuity" was lifted onto a flatbed truck to be set down about 100 meters to its new temporary location ( 50 ° 6 ′ 46.5 ″  N , 8 ° 40 ′ 3.6 ″  E ) in a park. A return to the old location had been announced for 2010.

After the installation in 1986, Max Bill remarked: “Now this symbol, the“ continuity ”, stands in the middle of the active city of Frankfurt. It is a sign of everlasting continuity: without quotation marks. "

After the sculpture did not return to its original location, criticism was voiced: “In the future, the company [wants] to reflect itself there in a large stone slab over which water flows. Perhaps »continuity« just doesn't fit in with limitless growth anymore? "

literature

  • Werner Spies: Continuity. Granite monolith by Max Bill. Deutsche Bank (Ed.), Busche Verlag, Dortmund 1986, ISBN 3-925086-01-3 .

Web links

Commons : Continuity (Sculpture)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ db-artmag.com: Max Bill's "Continuity" at a new location , accessed on December 24, 2011.
  2. ↑ deutsches-architektur-forum.de: Deutsche Bank Towers have been extensively modernized , September 12, 2011, accessed on December 24, 2011.
  3. ↑ Another granite sculpture of roughly the same weight was created by the ancient Egyptians, which, however, broke into two parts. Spiegel-Online of November 6, 2002 : Egypt: Ramses wife found in granite, accessed on May 2, 2011.
  4. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 5 (see literature)
  5. ↑ Jakob Bill (Ed.): Max Bill - Infinite Loop and the Single Surface 1935-1995. Benteli Verlag, 2000, p. 75. Quoted from wikipedia-quellenkritik.de , accessed on April 10, 2011.
  6. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 8 ff. (See literature)
  7. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 7 (see literature)
  8. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 17 (see literature)
  9. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 23 and 127 (see literature)
  10. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 13 (see literature)
  11. ↑ guenter-pilger.de : Illustration of the infinite loop by Max Bill in the Stadtgarten Essen made of Tranas granite, accessed on May 4, 2011.
  12. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 18 ff. (See literature)
  13. ↑ a b welt-der-form.net : Max Bill: Continuity (1986) , accessed on April 10, 2011.
  14. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 14 (see literature)
  15. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 33 (see literature)
  16. ↑ Max Bill: The mathematical way of thinking in the art of our time. Work No. 3, 1949: Quoted from Spies: Continuity: Granit-Monolith , p. 23 (see literature)
  17. ↑ maxbillfilm.ch : Max Bill - the absolute eye to eye, a film by Erich Schmid, accessed on April 30, 2011.
  18. ^ Anne Schloen: The renaissance of gold. Gold in 20th Century Art. S. 88. Dissertation at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Cologne from 2006. Available online , accessed on April 30, 2011.
  19. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 28 (see literature)
  20. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 8 (see literature)
  21. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 22f. (see literature)
  22. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 36 ff. (See literature)
  23. ^ Friedrich Müller: INSK compact. The international natural stone index for the current market. Volume I. 1st edition. Ebner Verlag Ulm 1997.
  24. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 47 ff. (See literature)
  25. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 78 (see literature)
  26. ↑ a b dbartmag.de : Continuity in the balance. Max Bill's monumental sculpture moves to a new location , accessed April 6, 2011.
  27. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 90 (see literature)
  28. ↑ Deutsche Bank moves back into the twin towers - faz.net : Deutsche Bank moves back into the twin towers from November 29, 2010, accessed on April 6, 2011.
  29. ↑ Spies: Continuity: Granite Monolith. P. 116 (see literature)

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 49.1 ″  N , 8 ° 40 ′ 7.5 ″  E