Zahlen- und Buchstabenfabrik / Numbers and Letters Factory

Heinrich Brummack’s relatively early work from 1970 already shows his humorous and ironical approach to art. Various coloured concrete elements are scattered on the ground, some stacked, some in rows, as if a playing child had carelessly left their building blocks behind or as if an oversized assembly line had jammed up. The individual shapes seem to be meaningful signs, evoking numbers and letters but defying clear-cut interpretation, preserving their mystery. The sculpture thus plays with the levels of meaning in art: The viewers’ desire to translate their impressions straight into unambiguous language or logical mathematics is recognised and addressed. Yet the sculpture refuses to be translated completely, offering another language beyond linguistic or mathematical expression, remaining aesthetical, playful, ambiguous.