Skyline

With his minimal intervention along the facade of the Kunstmuseum Bochum, Francois Morellet managed to fundamentally change how the building is perceived at night. Blue neon lights have been mounted along the front of the building in such a way that they would form an arc, were it not for the missing section in the middle. Nonetheless, viewers automatically mentally fill in the gap when looking at it.

In this way, the round form of the work contrasts the building, which is made up of vertical and horizontal structural elements. Reminiscent of a rainbow, Morellet’s installation defines an entirely new Skyline here. It also draws connections to its surroundings, especially the mining tower at the Bergbau-Museum, which can be seen in the background and is also lit at night.

When the interior lights are on, the museum rooms also become a part of the overall image created by the blue arc. Morellet began working with neon in 1963; with this work, he shows how a formally reduced intervention can lead to a novel relationship between an object and viewer.

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. 124-125.