Man walking to the sky
Man walking to the sky is a sculpture by the American artist Jonathan Borofsky . The figure stands on the forecourt of the Kulturbahnhof Kassel . The "Himmelsstürmer", as the sculpture is called by the citizens of Kassel, was designed by Borofsky for documenta IX 1992. The production costs amounted to about 70,000 D-Marks.
The work of art consists of a steel tube 25 meters high and 50 centimeters in diameter, which is set up at an angle of 63 °. At about the beginning of the last third of the tube, a painted fiberglass figure is attached, depicting a man walking rapidly towards the sky with sure steps. He is wearing a purple t-shirt and yellow pants.
During documenta IX, the sculpture was on Friedrichsplatz . The city of Kassel bought the figure after the exhibition ended, as it was very popular with the people of Kassel. For them, the figure symbolized a positive, upward trend in their city. The purchase price of 690,000 Deutschmarks was financed through donations. The skyscraper stood briefly on the Square of German Unity in the Untereustadt district before it was placed in its current location in front of the Kulturbahnhof.
Borofsky says he is dissatisfied with the location of the sculpture and the way it was set up. In his opinion, the sky-striker should be placed in a park on a hill outside the city. He is also bothered by the fact that the fastening bolts and the triangular base of the sculpture are visible. According to Borofsky, this affects the ease of installation he intended.
The identically designed female counterpart Woman walking to the sky is in Strasbourg .
photos
Foot of the statue 2015
detail
Entire station forecourt
literature
- Magistrate of the City of Kassel, Culture Office (ed.): Art in public space. Kassel 1992 - 2005. Marburg 2007: Jonas.
Web links
- "Man walking to the sky" at Kassel.de
- Article “Himmelsstürmer” in the HNA-Regio-Wiki
- "Man Walking To The Sky" on Jonathan Borofsky's website
Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 5 ″ N , 9 ° 29 ′ 26 ″ E