The Singen-based artist Joachim Schweikart is one of the leading figures in non-representational stone sculpture in the Lake Constance region. His towering, pillar-like stele, carved from Burgundian shell limestone, has stood since 1996 in the spacious roundabout on Steißlinger Straße. The monumental stone sculpture, just under 10 metres high, consists of two blocks stacked one on top of the other and is reminiscent of an obelisk in form.
The theme of the work is the high-contrast interplay between natural material and a worked surface, between an unhewn natural form and a sculpted artistic form, as well as the contrast between a austere, angular exterior and an expressive interior. Whilst one side of the stele is characterised by an unworked, rough surface, the other presents itself as a sculpturally worked outer skin, revealing the craftsmanship and the artistic process of form-finding. Both sections are vertically bisected over their entire height by a narrow, shallow joint, which widens in several places to form deep recesses, openings and gaps. This creates the impression of a massive intervention carried out with tremendous force, leaving behind irregularly blasted fractures and evoking the image of a massive wound.
At the same time, Schweikart’s powerful design imbues the stele’s imposing rigidity with a lively sense of movement and openness. The organic-looking openings thus offer views that form an imaginary line of sight along the busy east-west road in Singen’s Südstadt district.
Following the classical principles of sculpture and traditional stone-carving methods, Schweikart documents the artist’s direct creative engagement with the resistance of the hard material. Without any specific thematic intention, the reduction to the essential physical qualities of the material being shaped alone determines the expression and impact of the freestanding sculpture.
The work is owned by the Südwestdeutsche Kunststiftung GmbH.
Text and editing: Kunstmuseum Singen
