Heinz Mack

Große Stele, 1990

Heinz Mack is a major post-1945 German sculptor. The ground plan of his Große Stele relates to the Mercedes star; the work is above all a medium for giving the changing light conditions sculptural form. When designing the sculpture, Heinz Mack was aiming at formal simplicity. The vertical line formes the basic shape of the Stele, that slices up through the surroundings. The transformation from triangle to star, which takes place from bottom to top, causing the silhouette to taper, extends through six phases. The triangular shape at plinth level is modified by being nipped in five times. The surface of the Große Stele is polished stainless steel, which reflects the daylight and makes the Stele seem like an arrow of light when the sun is shining brightly. The nearby buildings can be seen at eye-level, and if you look up the blue of the sky is refracted in the sides of the triple cross; on dull days the Stele seems to thrust into the grey of the clouds. Its character changes according to the position of the sun and the weather conditions. Even though the surface has no color of its own, it becomes clear that potentially it contains the whole range of the colors of the spectrum.