Consol Gelb / Consol Yellow

As a landmark that is widely visible in the dark, Günter Dohr’s light installation Consol Yellow keeps the memory of coal mining alive, an industry that has shaped the region over the course of several generations. Coal was mined from 1865 to 1993 on the site of what is now the Consolpark. The founders named the mine “Consolidation,” a term derived from Latin for bringing together the mining claims. The facility – called Zeche Consol for short – saw great expansion, with nine new pits created by 1922. This made it one of the largest mines in the Ruhrgebiet.
Pit IX, the final pit, became the main transport shaft and its 53-meter-high rust-red buttressed tower is still in place today. By night, this massive structure is illuminated by Günter Dohr’s light installation: the artist has installed several rows of yellow sodium vapor lamps along the horizontal upper level of the mining tower. Alongside the lower cable sheaves, there is an additional row of red fluorescent lights.
The yellow-red light is particularly suited to attracting attention. At the same time, it is reminiscent of the nocturnal glow of the Ruhrgebiet’s various industrial installations, such as when pig iron is tapped in a blast furnace or the glow of the coke in coking plants.

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. 32-33.