Featured Photo: Headless Statue | © Couleur on Pixabay
I still remember an argument I had with Dieter Lapple in front of the Marrahaus in a completely different matter, when we also got to talk about his little Käthchen. I probably expressed that I didn't like this either, which he simply countered by saying that only a studied artist could have any idea of real art.
Now that his work from 1965 has fallen over and one wonders how much a repair must be worth to the taxpayer, I would like to point out that in this case it is "only" about contemporary art, its value later generations will certainly judge differently.
And if you consider that Heilbronn also only has limited tax funds, it might make sense to leave the decision about repairs to later generations - perhaps, looking back, you consider a damaged Käthchen to be very authentic for our time.
In any case, the story of the bronze statue that fell from the pedestal reminds me of a poem by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer to think.
The Marble Boy
Dig in the Capuletti Vigna
gardener, find a marble boy,
Master Simon fetch them,
He decides which god it is.
How the find was shown to the scholar
Who inquiringly bent his gray eyelashes,
A child kneels next to her: Julia,
Who saw the marble boy find.
“What's your sweet name, boy?
Rise from your grave to the light of day!
do you carry a torch? Are you elated?
Armor art thou that compels the hearts?"
Master Simon, looking sternly at the picture,
ignoring a child's words
Says: “He extinguishes the torch. she rents.
This handsome youth is Death."
"I think making art comes from being a little allergic to society, not wanting to belong."
Ragnar Kjartansson, The New Yorker (April 11, 2016)
