In his large-format wall installation, photographer Carsten Gliese uses motifs from the architecture of the building at Fliednerstrasse 21, a grid construction from the late 1960s. He developed his four-part work in a multi-stage design process, which he mounted on walls that were not yet present in the original building. A short text by Carsten Gliese about his work can be found here [de], a publication is in preparation.
The realisation of the work was supported by the Universitätsgesellschaft Münster e.V. and by the Institute of Psychology.
Cordula Hesselbarth developed a 12-metre-high wall installation for the foyer of the MIC, in which she combines her own artistic questions with the research interests of the researchers networked in the Cells in Motion Interfaculty Centre. You can find out more about the work here [de].
In 1969, Ernst Helmstädter came to the WWU as a professor of economics. Parallel to his academic career, which took him as far as the "Council of the Five Economic Wise Men," Helmstädter also persistently pursued artistic issues. He became emeritus professor in 1989, but remained closely connected to the university:
As chairman of the Senate Committee for Art and Culture, he gave important impulses to cultural life on campus. In 1999, he was named an honorary senator of the university for this commitment.
Inspired by Paul A. Samuelson, Nobel Prize winner in economics, with whom he came into contact during his time at Harvard University, and by the artists Josef Albers and Mauritz C. Escher, Helmstädter explored the phenomenon of ambivalence in both his research and his art: Just as the interpretation of statistical data is dependent on underlying values and norms, so too is the perception of images shaped by conscious or unconscious pre-decisions. As a theorist also interested in fundamentals in art, Helmstädter demonstrated this by means of the representation of three-dimensional objects on flat paper. From the cube as a basic form, he developed complex geometric structures that defy a clear perspective reading: Dual Objects.
Helmstädter deliberately opted for techniques such as collage or silk-screen printing in the production of his works. There is no trace of the production process, no brushstroke disturbs the dialogue between form and viewer. This dialogue is taken to the extreme in the prints on mirror foil: when looking at the picture, one looks back at oneself.
In 2021, the University of Münster received a large number of Helmstädter's prints and collages from the estate of Ernst and Irmgard Helmstädter. Other important works complement this collection as permanent loans. In addition, drawings - not actually intended for the public by the artist - provide information about how Helmstädter developed his pictorial inventions.
