CATCH AS CATCH CAN (with Lawrence Weiner)

Bottrop, 2010

German light artist Mischa Kuball and Lawrence Weiner, one of the founders of American Concept Art, have decided on an extraordinary collaboration for EMSCHERKUNST.2010. In mutual discussion, they have created a two-part installation for the former sewage treatment plant in Bottrop-Ebel: While Piet Oudolf, in collaboration with the landscape architecture firm Gross. Max, Piet Oudolf transformed the interior of the two former sewage treatment tanks, Mischa Kuball concentrated on the outer edges of the tanks. Here, the artist installed a ring of LED strips that moves like a rhythmic wave along the edges of the large sewage treatment tanks. This accentuates not only the tanks themselves, but the entire facility after dark. On the roof of the former operations pavilion from the late 1950s, Lawrence Weiner had lettering installed with the proverbial text CATCH AS CATCH CAN, which means “Take it as it comes!” in German. This lettering, which is reminiscent of product advertising or cinema advertising from the 1950s and 1960s, is a reminder of the pavilion's origins. While Lawrence Weiner's lettering can only be seen during the day, Mischa Kuball's light installation only becomes visible after dark. This creates a dialogue between light and language which, when applied to European cultural history, highlights the fundamental aspects of human communication, because “light and words represent the basic idea of the describability and legibility of the world. When language and light come together, the basic elements of knowledge are provided.” With these words, Mischa Kuball describes the motivation and concept behind his exploration of the medium of light, which he has been using for more than twenty years as an aesthetic vehicle for various messages.