Mischa Kuball: (BLACKOUT)

Mischa Kuball’s public preposition (BLACKOUT) sends white light into the wintry night sky. Until January 9, 2022, a light sign, visible from afar and slowly pulsing, will shine into the night as an urban intervention from both city hall towers and from the Glaskasten. The special nature of the architecture, which was home to the Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl for 40 years, will be celebrated and artistically highlighted once again before it moves out. Some sculptures from the museum’s collection, selected by the artist, such as Peter Brüning, Norbert Kricke or Germaine Richier, can be seen in a white cube framed with white fabric during the day, and casting dramatic shadows in the dark.

The architectural peculiarity of the old “glass box” on Creiler Platz lies in the history of its creation, because the museum, founded in 1982, was not included in the plans of the Rotterdam architects, but was set up in the 1980s in an inventive and solution-oriented manner next to the striking open staircase as well as in the basement. The ground floor, previously a free space under the council chambers, was enclosed with a floor-to-ceiling glass wall almost 40 years ago, so that the public can look into the museum from all sides, which is particularly impressive in the dark thanks to the appropriate lighting: With the construction, the term glass box (Glaskasten) evolved quickly. The ground-level exhibition rooms, whose open mood is enhanced by the same exposed aggregate concrete floor inside and out, had a very distinctive character as an exhibition venue for sculptures.

At the turn of the year 2021/2022, the Skulpturenmuseum will end its activities at the familiar site and leave the modernist concrete town hall designed by Dutch architects van den Broek and Bakema. After conversion of a school built in the 1960s 500 meters away, the museum will be able to move into “Marshall 66” together with the municipal library in 2024. Three large courtyards and a visually open relation to the adjacent park continue the legacy of maximum transparency for the presentation of sculpture.

As a farewell, a performance by Søren Siebel also took place on November 27: An architectural staging with dancers and performers that allowed the moment of transmission to be experienced as a historical moment.