Otto Baum

Description

Berlin-based artist Otto Baum is well known for fashioning his own art tools. This is one reason no doubt why his “making-of” videos enjoy such a large following on social media. So-called Ottotools were also employed in the creation of his work Momentum. Here, modified brushes have been used to create lively textures and colour overlays that lend the mural a vibrancy and dynamism in combination with the open-ended circular forms. Striking too are its richly contrasting colour changes, which create visual tension. As Baum explains, the work is about capturing movement and energy – “a feeling of continuous flow and growth” – which is why a more fitting place for its production than the Völklingen Ironworks is hard to imagine. For over a century, the plant and its machinery were in constant motion, pulsating with the movement of people and raw materials, and expending huge amounts of energy – all with the aim of producing enormous volumes of pig iron, which in turn generated economic growth and prosperity for the whole region.

Daniel Bauer