Auftauchen oder Versinken / Emerge or Submerge

Günther Zins used the geometric shape of a cube as the starting point for this work. Formed out of slim stainless steel rods, the installation can be found along the back of the former machine hall of the “Unser Fritz” coal mine, which is now used as a studio and exhibition space.
Arranged vertically in four stages, the cubes are located along the brick wall of the building. The top cube is in front of the wall and can be seen in entirety. As you move down the installation, each of the remaining cubes is submerged into the brickwork more than the last, with just a corner of the bottommost cube remaining visible. The viewer can interpret it as a falling movement from the upper edge of the roof down towards the ground, or as a cube climbing upward from the ground and gradually being freed from the wall.
In either case, it’s remarkable that the installation is perceived as a line drawing of a moving sequence rather than four static objects placed side by side. Using minimalist means, the artist depicts movements, interpenetrating planes, and temporal sequences that originate entirely from the viewer’s imagination.

Further reading:
Public Art Ruhr. Die Metropole Ruhr und die Kunst im öffentlichen Raum. Eds. Walter Smerling and Ferdinand Ulrich on behalf of the RuhrKunstMuseen, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-8632-134-0, pp. 212–213.