Carbon Obelisk

Carbon Obelisk brings together traditional form and modern materials. For thousands of years, the obelisk has served as a monument and landmark. Here too, at the edge of the Emscherradweg, it marks a fork in the road towards Emscherinsel and makes reference to a change in the landscape: The nearby Schurenbachhalde is made of excess stone from former coal mining, while the Emscher used to primarily flow with industrial waste water. Today, both have been converted into local recreational areas.
The obelisk draws attention to these aspects of cultural change through its location, as well as its composition. The column is made of carbon reinforced plastic. The shiny black surface is composed of bands laid on top of each other in a diamond pattern. Carbon fiber not only refers to coal as a starting material: “carbon” also refers to the geological epoch in which the formation of hard coal began over 300 million years ago.

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, p. 116.