Dezeen Magazine

Out of Joint by Tom Schmelzer

Munich-based concept artist Tom Schmelzer has proposed inserting a moving segment into an overhead walkway at the Hamburger Bahnhof museum for contemporary art in Berlin, Germany.

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With sound effects to simulate the sound of an avalanche, the project, called Out of Joint, is inspired by the turmoil on the financial markets.

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The following is from Tom Schmelzer:

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How do you transform the current temblor on the financial markets into art for a public space?

Tom Schmelzer’s project-sketch is an architectural intervention for the Hamburger Bahnhof – the Museum for Contemporary Art in Berlin, Germany. It is designed for the walkway from the main building to the Rieckhallen, an adjacent exhibitions hall.

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The title of the work „Such movements are unprecedented in history“ reflects on a statement made earlier this year by a broker of the Chicago Board of Trade.

A hydraulically operated, moving and floating segment is integrated into the walkway. In addition sound effects resembling the intensive, low-pitched rumbling of an avalanche or landslide can be heard. A sound that is experienced physically. Together with the shaking it leaves the visitor with an impression of deep uneasiness.

Movement and sound are controlled by a motion detector set off by people passing through the walkway.

Munich-based Tom Schmelzer is a concept artist who uses unique aesthetics in his illusionary sculptures and moving objects to comment on critical developments in everyday life.

Schmelzer's seductive sculptures immediately capture our attention, a task that is becoming increasingly difficult in the twenty-first century. He does this by moving past the aesthetic neutrality of previous conceptual art and reinforcing his appealing objects with sound conceptual statements.