»Many of my works address moments and zones of transition in public space. Gestures or rituals that we actively perform or passively endure when we enter a building, for example. The moment of connecting a bicycle to a public bicycle stand is such a moment. Bike racks are symbols of our contemporary mobile imperative, while also providing a structuring order. Nevertheless, due to the mountains of bikes and the individual way of connecting them, they often become rather chaotic looking obstacles in the city.
The »Emscher Folly« is a sculptural form I designed with a regular wave shape vaguely reminiscent of classic tubular steel furniture. Welded to it are more than 50 bicycles in a jumble that partly disregards the structure of the bicycle stand. At the Duisburg Alte Emscher sewage treatment plant, this creates an absurd moment of frozen condensation. In a place where there is neither reason for a concentrated gathering of people nor a real need to secure the bikes against theft, the moment of locking up, which is temporary in everyday life, becomes permanent by welding on the bikes. The »Emscher Folly« becomes a public sculpture that addresses the frozen mobility of a fictitious moment in time.«
Nicole Wermers