Molecule Man at Treptower Park - foto Alexandr Vasilevsky - OTA-Berlin
Molecule Man at at Treptower Park – foto OTA-Berlin Aleksandr Vasilevsky
This Molecule Man statue was completed in 1997 for the new ‘Allianz’ Insurance Company headquarters in Berlin and stands in the Spree River beside the office building – the only high-rise within a kilometer.
The architect for the ‘Allianz’ building was Peter Schwegler, and while it is rather stolid, bland but classical in design, the corresponding sculpture serves as a visual lightening-rod and takes the viewers eyes off the building almost immediately. [See accompanying fotos]
It stands in the middle of the Spree River with many commercial riverboats plus river and canal tourist boats passing it every day – it sits about 300m from the ‘Bad-Schiff’.
This is how the artist Jonathan Borofsky describes this own work on his website;
My first Molecule Man sculptures were made in 1977 and 1978 in Los Angeles. Early molecule structures included a molecule chair, a ceramic molecule vase, a molecule figure and a model for a molecule building made from styrofoam balls. Originally, I was fascinated by this molecule idea because of the simple fact that even though we appear to be quite solid, we are in fact composed of a molecule structure which, in itself is mostly composed of water and air.
For me, this hundred-foot tall aluminum sculpture composed of three figures meeting in the center, not only refers to the lightness inside our own solid bodies, but also the figures joining in the center, refer to the molecules of all human beings coming together to create our existence.
[http://www.borofsky.com/index.php?album=moleculemanberlin]
- The ‘Badeschiff’ – “Pool-ship” – is a floating swimming pool, with an accompanying sauna and wellness centre situated in the Eastern part of Berlin, in Kreuzberg and close to Treptower Park.
Situated in the East Harbor section of the River Spree, the Badeschiff is a self-enclosed pool which floats in the river thus allowing people to swim in a in a heated, safe and sanitary environment beside the river – the Spree river is today still too polluted to allow for safe bathing.
The Badeschiff opened in the summer of 2004 as an art project organized by the Berliner ‘Stadtkunstprojekte’ of Berlin – a the pool itself was converted from the hull of a 32m long vessel and the idea behind the project was to enliven city life along a long-neglected stretch of the Spree River.
It is open to the public daily from 8am to midnight – with an occasional disc- jockey to outside the pool entrance where there is also a bar.
For further info see:
Tags: 'Molecule Man' on the Spree, Badeschiff Berlin, Molecule Man, Treptower Park
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