An employee of the city's service department drills holes in a concrete base. The pedestal, the "the lovers will bear. A two-meter-high wooden sculpture, part of an exhibition that will enrich the rose garden with a themed walkway.
Steff bauer and soren ernst are the two sculptors who will be exhibiting a good 50 sculptures in bad kissingen. In the rose garden, in the courtyard of the district administration office and in the church of the heart of jesus.
Approaching a taboo
"On life and death" is the title of the exhibitions. The occasion to create works on this subject were some deaths in the circle of friends of the two artists. "One gets a different view on death", says steff bauer. "Dying is still a taboo, and in our opinion life and death are closely intertwined."
the exhibition in the rose garden will go through a whole human life. We refer to a quotation from the ancient greek orator and politician "antiphon", says sculptor steff bauer. From him comes the phrase "life cannot be repeated like a train at the board game".
This quote fits right in at the entrance to the rose garden two babies carved in stone sitting on a chessboard. "Man has the ability to make decisions, depending on the train you get there or there", steff bauer explains the motif.
Integrating the park in a targeted way
the artists have purposefully used the possibilities offered by the rose garden. For example, the fountain. It will symbolize the styx, the river that forms the boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead in the greek mythological world. The dead are carried across the river by the driver charon.
This motive is presented twice. Once in small form in front of the fountain, once as a rough boat in the pool. "Behind the spray of the fountains you will see seven souls of the deceased", explains steff bauer.
Together with her partner soren ernst, the native of schweinfurt lives in portugal during the cold season and in the spherical city in the summer. The two sculptors prefer stone as the material for their work, but wood also plays a role.
A completely different technique has soren ernst with the sculpture "the idol" elected. He has resorted to the ancient technique of the mosaic, among other things, to express the timelessness of human action. "Especially in spain you often see these mosaic tiles", female sculptor steff bauer.
Without the city employees the construction of the round path in the rosengarten would have been impossible, the two artists do not save money either with praise. Pedestals had to be set, the sculptures brought forward and erected. Especially the coarse, heavy sculptures must be stable. For security reasons, but in this way also vandalism resistant.
While the two artists place the sculptures together with the team of the bauhof, cultural advisor peter weidisch drops by in the rosengarten. The city's cultural department is in charge of the exhibition, in cooperation with the herz-jesu-church and the county.