Glückauf, die Unendlichkeit
kommt/ Good Luck,
Here Comes
Infinity
Glückauf, die Unendlichkeit kommt/ Good Luck, Here Comes Infinity, 2024
Glass tank, Oloid motor with wooden support, Oloid Type 600 discarded model, water, uranine, artificial plant, metal chain, plinth
H 195.5 x W 96.5 x D 96.5 cm
Glückauf, die Unendlichkeit kommt/ Good Luck, Here Comes Infinity focuses on the idea of Leipzig’s and Germany’s waterscape transformation, from open-cast lignite mines to artificial lakes, and nowadays as potential resources for hydropower. By examining role of human in perpetually transforming the environment, the glass aquarium invites us to look at water as a threshold, a liminal space to unlearn our perplexing contradictions.
For nearly a century and a half, central Germany's landscape has borne the dual imprint of lignite mining: a vital energy source and a profound environmental disruptor. The region's transformation is stark; 1,770 square kilometers of countryside yielded to extraction, leaving scars upon the land and water, displacing communities, and creating spectral villages. While powering a nation, this industrial behemoth simultaneously amplified greenhouse gas emissions.
Intrigued by the paradoxical nature of lignite's impact on people and the environment, I delved into the archives of Bergbau Technik Park (translated as Mining Technology Park) with their complete display of mining artifacts/ a full work cycle of an open-cast mine that illuminate the complex relationship between miners, their industry and the environment during and after the German Democratic Republic. As I explored this history, questions persisted about the ongoing, perplexing grip of lignite on the region.
The aquarium installation features an Oloid motor continuously swirling the fluorescent water. At the same time, it is chained to a hefty replica of which is resting at the bottom of the tank, while an artificial plant eerily circulating as if inspecting, resulted from the motor operation.
The Oloid, a unique geometric shape discovered by the engineer, sculptor and mathematician Paul Schatz in 1929, takes a central part in the work. This inversion form as a result of inverting the belt of a cube, since its discovery has continued to give inspirations for artists, architects, designers, choreographers among others. Above all, it provides philosophical projections - combining two fundamental aspects of time and thus of being: the zero point and infinity.
The Oloid motor and discarded model in the aquarium from OLOID Engineering GmbH are implemented in the Lake Hainer’s hydrothermal project in the south of Leipzig. The motor with its motion resembling a fish, helps harness the natural heat from open-cast mining lakes to then heat nearby residential buildings. The fluorescent colour of the aquarium comes from uranine, a type of non-toxic, biodegradable fluorescein for tracer experiments. Among its many uses, it was applied for recovery tests in water samples from mining sites in Germany.
Additionally, the installation’s title comes from the German miner’s and folk song The Steigerlied or Glück auf, der Steiger kommt that date back to the 16th century. The song originally comes from the Ore Mountains in Saxony and is now also widespread in other regions of Germany, regarded as the national intangible heritage. Specifically, Glückauf is a distinctive way of wishing “Good Luck” among miners, in which its literal translation is luck-up, indicating the hope of returning home safely after a tough day’s mining underground. This title signifies the paradoxical and perpetual relations of coal mining industry to people and the environment.