WHYPOP

WHYPOP is Harald Klingelhöller’s contribution to the 2007 Wuppertal project Sicht Weisen – Kunst auf der Talachse. At the time, the Hofkamp/Neuenteich traffic circle and its large central island had just been constructed, providing the perfect location for this sculpture, since the artist wanted to create a work surrounded by moving traffic. Klingelhöller has considered the complex quality of letters in several of his pieces, exploring how they can exist as form, sign, and content. Here, six letters become a massive sculpture in which the words “WHY” and “POP” stand back-to-back and merge in a sort of metamorphosis. The three letters, somewhat pointed and angular on one side and rounded on the other, were given a uniform black outer skin throughout. In this way, the sculptural qualities emerge more clearly, as well as the reference to printed text and “black art.”