Timm Ulrichs | Kopf-Stein-Pflaster

The Hannover »Totalkünstler« [Total Artist] Timm Ulrichs (b. 1940 in Berlin) has been a presence in the city with his numerous art actions since the late 1960s. In the process, his works are often of a temporary nature. The present installation is hence the only work by the artist that is permanently on display in the city’s public space. It was initially produced without a specific site in mind and
was ultimately installed in conjunction with the construction of the headquarters of the Lower Saxon Sparkassenverband. The (untranslatable) pun in the work’s title that references both headstones and cobblestones in German is typical of Ulrichs’s critical look at language and positions the objects cast from the artist’s own head between a contentually abstract memorial and ironic example of town planning. A more urban site like the square around the Market Church was initially considered – at its current location, the piece wishes to be discovered and taken in, demands that the viewer pauses in introspection. The work belongs to the Art Collection of the Sparkassenverband Niedersachsen. A further – semi-public – piece by Timm Ulrichs is visible behind the glass façade in the foyer of the new VGH building on nearby Warmbüchenkamp: »Die Lieblingsfarben der Niedersachsen« [The Favourite Colours of the Lower Saxons] was installed in 2009. » Location: Schiffgraben (adjacent to the Sparkassenverband Niedersachsen)