Temple

Ulrich Rückriem’s 1988 Temple belongs to a series of works in which he deals with the most basic architectural forms. For each of these works, a monolithic stone block is divided into a base, pillars, and cornices, so that it looks like an archaic structure and can be interpreted as a building (Temple), a monument (e.g., the Heinrich Heine memorial in Bonn), or as an autonomous sculpture.

This sculpture exhibits the artist’s typical process of maintaining the stone’s original form as it was found in the quarry, dividing it, and then reassembling it. Here, two horizontal rows of boreholes divide the tall rectangular stone block into three parts. A rectangular section was cut out of the middle, creating a recessed niche. The back of the niche is polished to a shiny finish. As such, three distinct stone textures can be observed from the outside moving inward: broken and rough, cut and smooth, and polished and shiny. Visitors can also see their own reflections on the polished surface inside the Temple.

Reference: m.skulpturenfuehrer.de/de/skulpturenfuehrer-koeln/ort/tempel