Plus ou moins

François Morellet turned the Maspernturm in Paderborn into a light artwork as his contribution to the project Lichtszenario Stadtmauer Paderborn. 7 Türme – 7 Lichter in 2003/2004. In order to raise awareness of the historical city wall, which had largely disappeared through modern urban expansion, international artists were invited to engage with the wall and its towers.

François Morellet has been working with neon since 1963 and creating public artworks since the late 1960s. Likewise, the work’s consistency and geometric arrangement are also characteristic of Morellet’s methodical self-discipline. The matching red neon tubes are arranged along the exterior of the tower in a repeating horizontal and vertical pattern. These light lines change every ten minutes, lighting up as plus and minus symbols.

Accordingly, the installation is titled Plus ou Moins, which can be understood as the symbols “plus and minus,” but may also be translated as “more or less.” However, Morellet is less concerned with a symbolic interpretation than he is with combining order and chance, which uniquely come together with the cylindrical form of the Masperntum.