The Petrograph LAGB Halle

If you consider geology in depth, you immediately encounter the diversity of minerals. Like a fantastic distant world, crystalline elements form before the observer’s eye. Cubes, pyramids, and tetrahedra spring from the various individual minerals—sometimes transparent, sometimes milky, sometimes with a deep color. An association with glass becomes immediately apparent, and thus the use of that very material for the artistic design of the square in front of the State Office for Geology and Mining in Halle seemed natural. Moreover, quartz and limestone, two elementary raw materials for glass production, are mined in the Halle region.

The idea of the PETROGRAPH emerges: a layered glass body with a total height of 3.25 meters. The glass body consists of 16 consecutively arranged panes. The outer edges are amorphously cut and recall a rock or stone structure. The clear interior surfaces echo the crystalline, geometric character of various minerals and contrast with the rough outer edges. The interior surfaces are further fractured by pale, white areas. This creates optical faults as they appear in the different geological rock strata.

The sequence of the glass panes is accentuated by a 3.4 cm spacing between each pane. This partitioning of the body underscores the process of analysis as it takes place in the laboratories of the State Office for Geology and Mining. The staggering of the glass plates also creates new light chambers within the glass body itself. Light is an immediate component of glass; light creates and models the space around it and gives rise to a glass artwork. The different surfaces, clear and milky, refract light at the edges. A unique world of light and shadow unfolds before and within the work DER PETROGRAPH.

The observer must move with the light, with the different structures and views of the work. Through varying times of day and the motion of the sun, the sculpture continuously reveals a new image—an approach that emphasizes the core idea of the LAGB Halle: the fascination and discovery of details in seemingly coarse rocks and earth layers.

The title DER PETROGRAPH (Petrography: science of petrology) personifies the object, the artwork. An excitement, the discovery of liveliness in petrology and geology, can only happen through a human who examines and analyzes. That very person must enter into dialogue with the rock, otherwise they will not perceive the finesse and depth. This dialogue, the fascination with detail, the engagement with the seemingly cold material, is what the artwork should reflect and personify. A glance, a thought for analysis, a conversation partner.