She creates herself
There it is, the mammoth sculpture on the trunk of a once giant mammoth tree in Zurich. It creates itself, finds its form within the framework of the possibilities given to it. This is what we are all called upon to do, for the rest of our lives.
Anyone who grows fast will be big soon: sequoias (Wikipedia) are fascinating in this regard. What an oak may gain in four to five years a mammoth will do in one. You can find them in Switzerland only as a special feature in parks. Rarely do I get one of these pleasant-to-work, weather-resistant woods to give them a second life as a sculpture.
«To live in a beautiful way, people have always done an artful job on themselves and their lives…» writes the philosopher Wilhelm Schmid. In doing so, we encounter the limits and possibilities that life sets and gives us. The «Creatress» takes on this task symbolically with the red handsaw. She is creating a piece of art – in the confines of the trunk and in the encounter with others.
She has found her perfect place on a mammoth’s trunk at Bleicherweg in Zurich, between Paradeplatz and Enge Station (Maps). The diseased tree had to be felled because of fouling. Trunk and root system remain so that the twin behind it continues to tower far into the sky, explains Green City Zurich in the local newspaper «Tagblatt».
My work was created from a mammoth felled in Winterthur. Incidentally, Maria Huber from the nearby restaurant «Silberkugel» has been designing the floral decoration for years («Tagblatt» portrait). She is happy about the immigration of the mighty woman.
1) Wilhelm Schmid, Mit sich selbst befreundet sein, Page 50, Suhrkamp Paperback, first edition 2007
