Zum Licht / Towards the Light

Tony Cragg donated this sculpture from his “industrial nature” series to the University of his adopted hometown. Despite a height of seven metres, it looks like a small plant trying to grow above the surrounding walls of the multistorey buildings on Campus Grifflenberg. At its inauguration, Tony Cragg explained his intention as follows: “Our reality needs energy: as plants strive for light, human beings strive for knowledge, which is the only way we can exist. This is what the sculpture at this site stands for.” Irregularly shaped aluminium elements, varnished a deep orange and in some spots sanded down to the metal, are arranged around a central rod, hiding it completely. The forms enfold the axis like leaves, while their intense colouring is reminiscent not only of vigorously striving growth, but also of tongues of flame licking up. The organic shape of the sculpture contrasts with the geometric grid of the buildings around it and redefines the site by introducing the element of unstoppable organic growth into a rather austere setting.

www.tony-cragg.com
www.denkmal-wuppertal.de