2018

auf Anfrage zugänglich

Wilhelmsgymnasium, Thierschstraße 46, 80538 München

partizipatorisches Projekt, 111 Bronzekugeln, ∅ 4,5 bis 9 cm, 222 Künstlerbücher

Architecture: BPA Braun Architekten, München

Landscape architecture: realgrün Landschaftsarchitektur

Photos: Peter Schinzler

Text: Roberta De Righi

The legend of “Giotto’s O” claims that the medieval painter Giotto once painted a nearly perfect circle freehand as a work sample for Pope Benedict XI, sending it off with the words, “That is enough and almost too much.” The Munich artist Gabriele Obermaier, however, was not interested in the ideal geometrical shape when she made the 111 spheres for the Kugelschwarm by hand; rather, her interest lay in individual approaches.

For the participatory work of art in the historic building of the Wilhelmsgymnasium, she asked 111 students from all of the grades, as well as teachers and parents, to each create an orb with a diameter between five and ten centimeters that would be as unique as their makers. The artists had the spheres cast in bronze, polished, and enameled. Afterward, they were attached to the walls of the three stories of the south stairwell, some in various dense constellations, some individually, but, above all, free of any hierarchical structures. One orb even made it to the ceiling of the gym; five others can be found on the exterior, on the side facing Maximilianstrasse. In addition, Kugelschwarm includes an artist’s book, in which all of the spheres are outlined and listed with names.

This “swarm” of shiny orbs is not just an unusual, multi-part installation, which sObermaier has dubbed “wall piercing.” It is also a successful illustration of the relationship between the collective and the individual, which plays an influential role, especially in school. Above all, the “swarm of orbs” demonstrates that the allure of diversity lies in the deviation from the norm and the distinctions among its various parts.