2018

auf Anfrage zugänglich

Kinderkrippe Helgastraße 8, 81827 München

Zeichnungen auf Glasscheiben

Three round, clear glass plates, diameters: 100, 80, 70 cm; Handmade drawings fired with orange ceramic enamel paint

Architecture: Klemens Lenz Architekt München

Landscape architecture: Wendler Landschaftsarchitekten + Stadtplaner, München

Photos: Boris Storz

What is that, anyway? Floating above the light blue wall of the daycare center on Helgastrasse is an orange-colored ball topped with a halo. Is it a kind of sun? Or perhaps a primordial cell, the beginning of all life? Theoretically, anything could emerge from a primordial cell, but the Munich-based artist Rita Hensen turns the sparkling little ball into a hedgehog, an inhabitant of this formerly overgrown piece of land.

Quite naturally, it seems to be clambering up the stairs of the daycare center. As it reaches the upper section of the staircase, it begins to roll up, winding up as a spiky little ball falling asleep under the stairs. “Who Sleeps, Sparkles” is the title of this artwork, and in fact, the sleeping hedgehog looks as if it is sparking, because the simple handmade drawing makes its spikes look like rays of light.

The contours of the small and present animal are fired in orange ceramic enamel paint onto three round glass plates in different sizes of 70, 80, and 100 cm. Each glass is mounted on a correspondingly large, round white surface set against the light blue color that covers the entire wall from bottom to top. Seen from a distance, they form the vertex of a triangle. Along with the light green of the linoleum floor, the color palette of orange, white, and light blue permeates the interior of the daycare center with an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.

The airy, light color scheme is reminiscent of a fine spring day outdoors beneath a cloudless sky. Depending on the cast of light and the viewer’s perspective, the drawings create a shadowplay on the wall and the hedgehog moves. Every day, the children are greeted by their little companions who accompany them during their big and little challenges throughout the day.