Latest news with #HessischerRundfunk
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
German artist who 'painted with nails', Guenther Uecker, dead at 95
German sculptor and installation artist Guenther Uecker, best known for his mesmerising artworks using thousands of nails, has died at age 95. His works, created from the 1950s saw him hammer nails into furniture, TV sets, canvases and a tree trunk, creating undulating patterns, the illusion of movement and intricate shadow plays. While he became famous for using a hammer instead of a brush to "paint with nails", Uecker, considered one of Germany's most influential artists, later also used other materials, from sand to stones and ash. Uecker was born on March 13, 1930, in Wendorf in what is now the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. He grew up on Wustrow, a peninsula north of the Baltic Sea port of Wismar, experiencing the horrors of World War II. A few days before the German surrender, the ship "Cap Arcona" sank near his hometown, with 4,500 concentration camp prisoners on board. Uecker helped bury the dead who washed up on shore, a traumatic experience he addressed decades later in his work "New Wustrow Cloths". Fearing the advance of the Russian Red Army, a young Uecker nailed shut the door of his family home from the inside to protect his mother and sisters. Uecker remembered that "panicked, instinctive act" in a 2015 TV documentary with public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk. "That had a profound impact on me and was perhaps a key experience for my later artistic work." - 'Intrusiveness and aggression' - Even as a child, Uecker was constantly drawing. This displeased his father, a farmer, who thought his son was "a failure and not quite normal", Uecker recalled in a 2010 interview with the Rheinische Post daily. As a young man in East Germany, Uecker in 1949 began an apprenticeship as a painter and advertising designer, then studied fine art. But Uecker, who wanted to study under his artistic idol Otto Pankok, fled East Germany in 1953 and transferred to the University of Dusseldorf. Uecker, who created his first nail paintings in the late 1950s, later said that the nail attracted him for its "intrusiveness, coupled with a strong potential for aggression", something he said he also carried within himself. In 1961, he joined the art group Zero of Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, who sought to counter the devastation of World War II with a spirit of optimism and lightness. Zero aimed to return art to its absolute basics, they wrote in their manifesto: "Zero is the beginning." Uecker's work often addressed contemporary issues. His ash paintings, for example, were a response to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. After xenophobic riots targeted migrants in a suburb of Rostock in 1992, he created a series called "The Tortured Man" which was exhibited in 57 countries. Uecker's works are exhibited in museums and galleries, but he also designed cathedral church windows and the prayer room of Berlin's Reichstag building housing the lower house of parliament. Asked once whether he was bothered by being known simply as the nail artist, he said he wasn't. "Something like that is necessary for identification ... People need a symbol, an emblem." wik/fz/sea/giv
France 24
2 days ago
- General
- France 24
German artist who 'painted with nails', Guenther Uecker, dead at 95
His works, created from the 1950s saw him hammer nails into furniture, TV sets, canvases and a tree trunk, creating undulating patterns, the illusion of movement and intricate shadow plays. While he became famous for using a hammer instead of a brush to "paint with nails", Uecker, considered one of Germany's most influential artists, later also used other materials, from sand to stones and ash. Uecker was born on March 13, 1930, in Wendorf in what is now the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. He grew up on Wustrow, a peninsula north of the Baltic Sea port of Wismar, experiencing the horrors of World War II. A few days before the German surrender, the ship "Cap Arcona" sank near his hometown, with 4,500 concentration camp prisoners on board. Uecker helped bury the dead who washed up on shore, a traumatic experience he addressed decades later in his work "New Wustrow Cloths". Fearing the advance of the Russian Red Army, a young Uecker nailed shut the door of his family home from the inside to protect his mother and sisters. Uecker remembered that "panicked, instinctive act" in a 2015 TV documentary with public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk. "That had a profound impact on me and was perhaps a key experience for my later artistic work." 'Intrusiveness and aggression' Even as a child, Uecker was constantly drawing. This displeased his father, a farmer, who thought his son was "a failure and not quite normal", Uecker recalled in a 2010 interview with the Rheinische Post daily. As a young man in East Germany, Uecker in 1949 began an apprenticeship as a painter and advertising designer, then studied fine art. But Uecker, who wanted to study under his artistic idol Otto Pankok, fled East Germany in 1953 and transferred to the University of Dusseldorf. Uecker, who created his first nail paintings in the late 1950s, later said that the nail attracted him for its "intrusiveness, coupled with a strong potential for aggression", something he said he also carried within himself. In 1961, he joined the art group Zero of Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, who sought to counter the devastation of World War II with a spirit of optimism and lightness. Zero aimed to return art to its absolute basics, they wrote in their manifesto: "Zero is the beginning." Uecker's work often addressed contemporary issues. His ash paintings, for example, were a response to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. After xenophobic riots targeted migrants in a suburb of Rostock in 1992, he created a series called "The Tortured Man" which was exhibited in 57 countries. Uecker's works are exhibited in museums and galleries, but he also designed cathedral church windows and the prayer room of Berlin's Reichstag building housing the lower house of parliament. Asked once whether he was bothered by being known simply as the nail artist, he said he wasn't. "Something like that is necessary for identification ... People need a symbol, an emblem."
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Dug Up a Parking Lot to Find the Remains of a Medieval Church—Surrounded by Skeletons
Archaeologists discovered the remains of a medieval church beneath the asphalt of a parking lot. Parts of the church were likely used elsewhere in the city when it was demolished after the Reformation. Skeletons unearthed at the excavation site may have been 'eaves children.' We walk around everyday completely unaware of what's just a few yards beneath our feet. For all we know, we could be treading over ancient tools on our morning jog or civil war weapons on our way into the grocery store, but it isn't often that we actually get to see what's under the Earth's surface. But the people of Eschwege, Germany, did when they found out they were parking their cars on top of a medieval church. Construction on a parking lot in Eschwege resulted in the discovery and excavation of a building—now identified as the former St. Godehard Church—that dates back to the 1340s. After centuries, all that remains of the church are the foundations. Archaeologists working at the site suggest that stones from the rest of the structure were likely used elsewhere around the city once the church was demolished in the 16th century after the Reformation. The building being dismantled doesn't make it any less impressive, however. 'Such stones were quite expensive in the Middle Ages,' Anja Rutter—the archaeologist leading the excavation—told Hessischer Rundfunk in a translated statement. 'They must have been brought here over the water with some effort. Someone spent a lot of money here. This is a well-built and solid church.' The church's foundation wasn't the only significant discovery at the site. As of February 25, archaeologists have found 30 skeletons buried closely together around the outside of the church walls. Researchers estimate some of the remains to have been 4 or 5 years old at the time of death and others as young as newborns. Experts suggest that the unique (and seemingly deliberate) location of the burials could be because the deceased were 'eaves children.' Eaves-drip burials were a Christian practice during Medieval times that were believed to have saved children's souls if they died before they were baptized. 'The closer you bury the dead to the altar area, the greater the chances that the responsible saint will come to his church on the last day and collect the souls at the same time,' Rutter explained in the statement. 'There is also the idea that the dripping water from the roof of the church is something like baptismal water, which brings the children even closer to the protection of the church.' Experts believe there are older churches buried beneath the remains of St. Godehard Church but are unable to excavate at this time due to costs. Experts also wish to leave any potential artifacts in the ground to preserve them for later excavation. For now, what was once the site of Godehard will be turned into a public green space. Eschwege's mayor, Alexander Heppe, said that they plan to recognize the historical significance of the site with display boards or a model in the square. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
