1998, Installation
30 Clay Heads, modelled by pupils, Developed for Art Hansa Special, Hansa-Gymnasium, Köln, Germany
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A painting from the year 1814 (taken from the book ‘ The Turks Before Vienna’) depicts the Winter Riding School in Vienna. On the balconies of a big ornamented hall resembling an opera house we can see well-dressed men and women. The game that is being played contrasts sharply in its severity with the painting’s buoyant and gentle colors. Four cavalrymen are trying to thrust their lances into the modeled papier-mache heads placed on columns. The game is called ‘Turk’s Head Piercing’. In the project, the pupils are asked to describe the image that appears in their inner eye when they hear the word ‘Turk’ and to model this image in a clay bust. The space in which the installation is to be realized is the school’s Biology Lecture room. The painting from 1814 is projected onto the wall. The clay busts created by the pupils are placed on the desks. While they are rotating with the help of motors, we hear carousel music in the room.