A.R. Penck

The idea for Skulptur Projekte in Münster 1987 that A. R. Penck noted on paper on 6 January 1987 was: “A small sculpture (1 of 5) (from my own desk) for the desk of the Lord Mayor of Münster Westfahlia [sic].”¹ This project proposal was accepted and the figurine was installed in the office of Münster’s mayor. The project’s realisation was testified by the photograph of the office reproduced in the catalogue of Skulptur Projekte in Münster 1987 showing the mayor beside his desk together with the figurine.²

With this work A. R. Penck addressed the notion of public space and its variously definable dimensions. Although this specific site represents a certain kind of public space, since it is located in Münster’s town hall, the mayor’s office was for work-related reasons not accessible to a broader audience.

Ronja Primke

¹ Cf. facsimile of Penck’s project proposal, 20 x 27.1 cm, in: Klaus Bußmann and Kasper König (eds.), Skulptur Projekte in Münster 1987, exhib. cat. Westfalisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kuturgeschichte, Münster, Cologne, 1987, p. 216.

² Ibid., p. 215.