As geopolitical tensions rise again, a new space race emerges. But can today's competitors create narratives as inspiring as those that captured imaginations during the Kennedy-Khrushchev era?
Having recently visited Houston, where I lived for several years, I found your Post timely and particularly enjoyed the photographs. Works of space-themed public art seem to be (mostly) cherished, valued and well maintained throughout the former GDR. A couple I find most stunning are “Space, Earth, Man” , a double-sided mosaic by Otto Schutzmeister in Eisenhüttenstadt and “The Man-controlled forces of Nature and Technology”, one of two massive tile murals by Josep Renau, on a multi-storied building in Halle-Neustadt. I expect you are familiar with these works.
I am also fond of a less well-known mural in Eisenhüttenstadt , “The Development of Human Society”. A multi-paneled piece culminating with a mother and child reaching for the stars, by Friedrich Kracht, on an external wall of the former Yuri Gagarin High School. Sadly graffiti is encroaching on the painted tiles and as the school has been vacant for many years, I assume it may be demolished at some time.
Excellent mention of Eisenhüttenstadt! I went there three times for different reasons, and I never cease to admire the combination of art-urbanism-social vision. A union that was always there, where there was also a vision - more or less questionable, but great - of the world: Rome, for example, but not only. One would say that in this very individualised age of ours, aesthetics applied to public spaces has become just a matter for "archistars": but think also of all the statues, sometimes very small, that adorn the parks of East Berlin. Ref. Eisenhüttenstadt: somewhere in my archive I also have photos of the mural you mention "Space, Earth, Man". A peculiar city: visitors come from all over the world, people with refined curiosity, but little attention comes around here. You can go there in a day, but it still lacks a major cultural project to put it back on track. Mostly refugees live in the old town, and those who live in houses outside commute to Frankfurt am Oder or Berlin. A dormitory city that would deserve much more.
Having recently visited Houston, where I lived for several years, I found your Post timely and particularly enjoyed the photographs. Works of space-themed public art seem to be (mostly) cherished, valued and well maintained throughout the former GDR. A couple I find most stunning are “Space, Earth, Man” , a double-sided mosaic by Otto Schutzmeister in Eisenhüttenstadt and “The Man-controlled forces of Nature and Technology”, one of two massive tile murals by Josep Renau, on a multi-storied building in Halle-Neustadt. I expect you are familiar with these works.
I am also fond of a less well-known mural in Eisenhüttenstadt , “The Development of Human Society”. A multi-paneled piece culminating with a mother and child reaching for the stars, by Friedrich Kracht, on an external wall of the former Yuri Gagarin High School. Sadly graffiti is encroaching on the painted tiles and as the school has been vacant for many years, I assume it may be demolished at some time.
Excellent mention of Eisenhüttenstadt! I went there three times for different reasons, and I never cease to admire the combination of art-urbanism-social vision. A union that was always there, where there was also a vision - more or less questionable, but great - of the world: Rome, for example, but not only. One would say that in this very individualised age of ours, aesthetics applied to public spaces has become just a matter for "archistars": but think also of all the statues, sometimes very small, that adorn the parks of East Berlin. Ref. Eisenhüttenstadt: somewhere in my archive I also have photos of the mural you mention "Space, Earth, Man". A peculiar city: visitors come from all over the world, people with refined curiosity, but little attention comes around here. You can go there in a day, but it still lacks a major cultural project to put it back on track. Mostly refugees live in the old town, and those who live in houses outside commute to Frankfurt am Oder or Berlin. A dormitory city that would deserve much more.