Röhrenlandschaft / Tube Landscape

Abstract sculptures made of prefabricated industrial pipes are characteristic of Friedrich Gräsel’s work. This sculptural ensemble was created in 1969 for the exhibition Euroflor and consists of five elements made of bent Eternit tubes.

Each of the angular red forms can be understood as an individual sculpture. Combined, they present a variety of constellations, groupings, images, and overlaps that change based on the viewer’s vantage point. Thus, despite their geometric rigidity, they express a sense of changeability and variability.

In its original location, the sculpture group was situated in the same line of sight as the blast furnace gas pipes and converter heads at the Pheonix Hoesch plant; when seen in the background, they could be visually incorporated as elements of the work.

This connection was also illustrated by the identical coloring of the tubular sculpture and the blast furnace pipes. The new installation in 1983 left this reference unrecognizable.

Further reading:
Jürgen Zänker: Öffentliche Denkmäler und Kunstobjekte in Dortmund. Eine Bestandsaufnahme, 1984, 2. edition. 1990, No. 333, p. 260.