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4Das E als Element der Architektur

Raffael Rheinsberg
2000, Sheet metal from transformers

Das E als Element der Architektur

To the right of the path stands a transformer building, whose walls bear representations of the letter ”E” made of sheet metal. This installation is called ”Das E als Element der Architektur” (The E as an architectural element), and it was made by the object artist Raffael Rheinsberg.

Rheinsberg was born in Kiel in 1943. After an apprenticeship as a molder and caster, he pursued studies at the School of Design in Kiel. There followed exhibitions in Germany and abroad, his membership in the German Artists Association and a number of awards. He died in 2016 in Forst, in the Hunsrück region.

Rheinsberg worked with found objects. He often created his works from everyday things that had been discarded, removing them from their context and lending them a new identity in large installations. He himself described the symbolic value of an object as infinite.
According to Rheinsberg, every object has a soul, which he approached with his arrangement. It was during a yearlong ... stay in New York in 1983 that he first discovered the letter ”E” as a basic form in modern architecture.

Das E als Element der Architektur 2

Making objects that are usually overlooked into something that is worthy of closer inspection, literally becoming aware of them, can be seen as both a parallel to the efforts of modern science and a general appeal to viewers. A transformer building itself is usually overlooked, but by applying panels of different sizes to its exterior, Rheinsberg has made a work of art out of it. This can also be understood as a way of elevating what happens in the building – raising our knowledge of functional principles to art – through transformation.

The installation was acquired in 2000 for the sculpture park with funds from the LOTTO-Stiftung Berlin.