Konzept

·Über Dauer hinweg· (Beyond duration)

A wooden cartwheel, halfway buried in the soil somewhere in Franconia, was portrayed from February 1988 until 2008. The series of photographs was determined by a four-four-three-monthly rhythm, and by the closing date in 2008. The subtlety of the work does not allow for the superficiality of illustrious decay; sensationalism is avoided.

Portraying the cartwheel uncovers what we cannot experience with our senses: time.

Time is not palpable; it can only be imagined. Man’s crucial resource is time, if it is possible for him to manage it. Nothing can replace time. It is irrevocably limited and hence so precious to us. No one seems to be aware of this individual limitation for every mortal being. Man often does not value his command of his free time. Thus he feels cheated out of his most precious possession.

Less and less do we experience our world empirically – secondary experience prevails. When does nature play a part in our lives? Nature is but one item on the list of modern man’s leisure-oriented but coexistent stressed society. Protected by plastic membranes, man tries hard not to let himself get involved too deeply. He solely experiences the limitations of his individual actions.

People in the past left traces. Each cave painting, each photograph is older than modern digital storage media will ever get. The passage of time is inconspicuous, unobtrusive, while the wheel is on hold. Man precipitates his transitoriness. The question is, will he leave permanent traces? Somehow the possibility arises that our traces will disappear.

While speeking to others socially the work is simply called “the wheel”. At what time will the wheel be visited again is the determining question for the planning.

The wheel is settled, it pauses and is part of the landscape. It does not decide anything. Time is always present.