Steam

Robert Morris’s Steam was first realized in 1967. The work was permanently installed in the open space in front of the Museum Abteiberg during his monograph exhibition there in 2009. Since then, white steam rises from a square plot of lava stones for 15 minutes on the hour during the museum’s winter opening hours (Nov. – Feb.).

Robert Morris is considered one of the most important representatives of American minimalist art. However, his work is so diverse in terms of form and content that this description doesn’t do him justice. His sculptures, installations, choreographic work, and writings are about an art that systematically seeks to escape its own tangible nature. Steam is the sensory expression of these theoretical reflections on the essence of art.

Rather than a physical work, the rising steam forms clouds and fog and then dissipates again. It is fleeting and intangible; it can’t be captured or owned. Nonetheless, it opens up a completely new means of perceiving the space, as well as countless associations. These associations range from the sacred hot springs of antiquity to Leonardo da Vinci’s recommendation that artists observe the clouds; from the invention of the steam engine to Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.

In any case, it is clear that the artist is working with a new definition of artistic work, which traditionally strives to capture the image of something fleeting. Instead, Morris incorporates the ephemeral as a direct element of the artistic concept.

Morris entrusted this important piece of 1960s artwork to the Museum Abteiberg in a sort of trusteeship to ensure its future presence (loans for temporary installations at other locations are approved and controlled by the museum). It was acquired with the support of the Kulturstiftung der Länder, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Kunststiftung NRW.

Additional information: www.museum-abteiberg.de/index.php?id=110

Further reading:
Robert Morris,  “Notes on Sculpture.” Artforum, New York 1966 – 1967 (multiple volumes).