Swing_Two_Three_Four
2012
here in the “Pfeilerhalle”, E-Werk Freiburg
wood, metal, paint, rope, rolling
sizes
swing two circa 5 m x 4 m x 2,8 m
swing three circa 2 m x 2,5 m x 3 m
swing four circa 1,5 m x 1,5 m x 1,2 m
Irene Schueller’s „Swings“ explore the physical boundaries of artistic exuberance. Rocking is a highly complex physical process. By shifting one’s own body center, the rocking works against gravitational and centrifugal force, producing kinetic energy. Using your body to experience height and speed is fun. Irene Schueller’s artistic waggery stands beside the childish delight in rocking while posing mature questions. Swing frames usually consist of a simple and solid beam construction, firmly anchored in the ground. Irene Schueller’s swings are much more complicated and provocative. The idea of safety is not the focus, but the question: How far can the statics be challenged? How ‘irrational’ can a construction be without collapsing? The scaffolding consists of apparently chaotically connected beams, uncleanly welded – actually an impossible construction, held together only by metal shoes at the breaking points. Since the racks are not anchored in the ground, but stand on wheels, swinging is also a real challenge, and has frustration potential for the users. But the frustration is at the same time the awareness of one’s love of life: the will to rock, to play, to live.
After the first Swing („Schaukel_eins“), which Irene Schueller built in 2011, four more swings were created in the same year, three for the show at the E-Werk Freiburg, and another for an exhibition in the sculpture park on the Faulerbadwiese Freiburg.
