Project phase 1
Phases of the production
- The prototype
- The model
- Becoming acquainted
- Prototype acc epts shape
- 5 1/2 t sculpture
- The new giant
Project phase 2
- The Boulder
- The Sculpture
Project phase 3
- Sculpture
Project phase 4
- new Sculpture
- Sculpture 2011 Basalt, Eifel Mayen, Mayko
Project phase 5
- working space
- view from workshop
Project phase 1, 09/2007
Manufacture of a large sculpture in Mayko natural stone factory
Project phase 2, 07-08/2008
The Lava Flow in the Eastern Eifel
Since seven thousand years, since the Neolithic humans make use of the Bellerberg's lava flow in Mayen in the Eastern Eifel to obtain freestone.
From each historical epoch artifacts and mining traces can be proven.
In Roman times a veritable millstone industry had been developed, the products of which were being traded over wide parts of Middle Europe. A unique situation north of the Alps.
For me as a stone sculptor this is an opportunity to establish a connection between geology and history - right at my doorstep so to speak.
In terms of geological dimensions the lava flows are so young that they seem to not having cooled down yet. Modern mining works its way into the lava flow. Medieval tunnels are being truncated. Roman mill stones and tools can be found in the detritus.
Each crevice breathes with history. Each stone has a name. The age-old artisan tradition is unbowed and still alive. The quarrymen they know and love their material and are proud of it. Amidst these conditions, between mining walls and diesel fumes, the stone saw's singing and the crusher's grinding I have installed my mobile workshop.
A container for my tools, a water tank, a generator, an awning - and my workplace is completed.
There the very heavy freestones are being carried, tested for faults in the material, split, turned and angled, refused or processed further until the Basalt lava-Beings appear...
Cooling fissures have pervaded the lava flow with a pattern of scissures which divides the body of stone into penta- to heptagonal columns.
The columns can be up to several meters long and can have a width of more than two meters. Their pulvinate and concave strained outer surface often already give a sculptural impression and offer inspiration and a starting point for the still to be exposed figure.
Project phase 3, 2009
Project phase 4, 2011
Project phase 5, 2018, establishing a permanent workshop