ESSEN.- Commissioned by
Urbane Künste Ruhr, rAndom International has built a monumental yet elusive sculpture at Schacht XII, part of the Zollverein World Heritage Site. The London-based studio uses water as a raw building material, creating an ephemeral tower from the innumerable falling drops: Tower / Instant Structure for Schacht XII. rAndom International controls the mass of water, forming it into the shape of a tower which viewers are invited either to enter or to view from a distance. Tower can disappear and reappear instantaneously; the sound of falling water is overwhelming and humidity lingers in the air. The simulated, transient structure of Tower presents a sharp contrast to the static architecture of the Zollverein World Heritage Site. It also refers to the mine water at Zollverein, which still exists underground and needs to be pumped out because it is constantly increasing. rAndom International's first outdoor piece, this performative installation examines how visitors can approach and engage with a historic industrial site. The 19-meter height and 800-liter-per-second water-pumping Tower / Instant Structure for Schacht XII can be experienced during the Ruhrtriennale 2013 at the Kokskohlenbunker on the Zollverein premises, daily from 10am to 1am.
Urbane Künste Ruhr annually develops a contribution to the Ruhrtriennale that focusses on the urban space of the industrial heritage venues. In 2012, the interactive light installation Pulse Park by the Canadian-Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was successfully realized at the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum.
rAndom International creates artworks and installations that explore behaviour, reaction and intuition in relation to natural phenomena and the human form. The London-based studio was founded in 2005 by Hannes Koch, Florian Ortkrass, and Stuart Wood. Today, the studio is based in a converted warehouse in Chelsea, London and includes a growing team of diverse and complimentary talent. The artists' large-scale, participatory installation Rain Room (2012) was recently exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as part of MoMA PS1's EXPO 1: New York, a festival of exhibitions exploring ecological challenges of the 21st century. Prior to this, the piece made its debut at London's Barbican Centre in October 2012. Their kinetically responsive sculpture Fly (2011) was premiered at the 4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, while intelligent light installation Swarm Study / III (2011) is on permanent display at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Urbane Künste Ruhr is the new art organization in the cultural metropolis Ruhr. Based on the unique urban landscape of the Ruhr Area, we together with artists, networks, and cultural institutions investigate the core of urbanity. Under the artistic direction of Katja Aßmann, Urbane Künste Ruhr develops and realizes projects that define the design of cities in a new wayalways on-site and together with the people living here. Urbane Künste Ruhr risks a new perspective on the Ruhr Area, the city in general, and the possibilities of art.