2024
It is a Percent-for-Art commission (Kunst am Bau Projekt) for a new Archaeology Center on Berlin’s Museum Island („PETRI—Archäologisches Haus am Petriplatz“).
The Tale of the Scale and the Skull is a 650x650cm floor mosaic on the building’s outdoor terrace. It takes its inspiration from two sources: the rich history of the Petriplatz area and the hands-on practice of archeological excavations. The mosaic echoes critical local findings; the first is the so-called “first Berliners,” the earliest human skeletons found in Berlin (early 12th Century), a central theme in the center's creation. The second is the colossal “Berolina” statue, a female figure symbolizing the city and its walls (19th Century). The other motives depicted are scattered excavation tools that seem to rotate along a circular path—evoking dream-like, centripetal movement, staging an imaginary excavation scene.
Commissioner: Land Berlin, vertreten durch Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa; Kunst im Stadtraum und Kunst am Bau, in Abstimmung mit Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen und dem Landesdenkmalamt Berlin
Supervision: Büro für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum, BBK Berlin
Project management: Mascha Fehse
Execution: Cosmomusivo, Atelier für Mosaikkunst
Documentation: Volker Gehrmann
2024
It is a Percent-for-Art commission (Kunst am Bau Projekt) for a new Archaeology Center on Berlin’s Museum Island („PETRI—Archäologisches Haus am Petriplatz“).
The Tale of the Scale and the Skull is a 650x650cm floor mosaic on the building’s outdoor terrace. It takes its inspiration from two sources: the rich history of the Petriplatz area and the hands-on practice of archeological excavations. The mosaic echoes critical local findings; the first is the so-called “first Berliners,” the earliest human skeletons found in Berlin (early 12th Century), a central theme in the center's creation. The second is the colossal “Berolina” statue, a female figure symbolizing the city and its walls (19th Century). The other motives depicted are scattered excavation tools that seem to rotate along a circular path—evoking dream-like, centripetal movement, staging an imaginary excavation scene.
Commissioner: Land Berlin, vertreten durch Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa; Kunst im Stadtraum und Kunst am Bau, in Abstimmung mit Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen und dem Landesdenkmalamt Berlin
Supervision: Büro für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum, BBK Berlin
Project management: Mascha Fehse
Execution: Cosmomusivo, Atelier für Mosaikkunst
Documentation: Volker Gehrmann