„Bollards” is another instance of Gabriele Horndasch's concern with, and artistic use of, prefabricated, „ordinary” elements of the public sphere: on the occasion of a stay in Łódż/Poland, she produced casts of iron bollards dating from the 19th century which had been put in front of gateposts in order to protect them. Through the formal and contextual transposition, the objects thus created are given a peculiar sculptural identity of their own, being transmuted into enigmatic steles which, in their quasi-phallic erection, are at once ornamental and aggressive – mirroring the peculiarly ambivalent character of the originals, in which their intended function – that of a massive ‚interface’ which has to absorb (and render harmless) the surplus of potentially threatening kinetic energy of outside forces – is likewise remodelled and masked in an idiosyncratic aesthetic manner. This ambivalence is also emphasized and problematized by the material used by the artist: an apparently massive, concrete-like corporeality is, on second sight, revealed as a fragile, hollow plaster cast; its „untidy” appearance – seams, grainy surfaces and all – underscores its model-like aspect and further undercuts the supposed protective function...”

(from „Bollards” by Christoph Wilde / Die Kunst des Verschwindens / Dresden 2008)

5 casts / Unique copies