Ulrich Rückriem “Untitled”

About the Artist

Ulrich Rückriem is a German-born artist who spent much of his life practicing stone masonry before he became a freelance artist. Not much information is available on this artist, and thus it’s difficult to know his intentions with Untitled. It is possible, however, that due to his background as a stonemason, his usage of stone sculpture and minimalist techniques are reflective of his love for and appreciation of the medium—that is, simple, very slightly altered stone.

About Untitled

Once again, there is no clear statement anywhere on what exactly drove Rückriem to create this piece. However, given its very rough and unpolished appearance, as well as its lack of a title, all it really encapsulates is the natural beauty of the granite that it is made of. Rückriem may have wanted us to take part in this celebration of natural beauty by placing this large piece of stonework on campus, right off the side of the path where it’s easily accessible to the public and where they can interact with it as they please. There’s a small opening in the stone that’s pretty much perfect for sitting in—and so, whether it was intended as a picture frame or not, that’s how we treated it as we reinterpreted the work.

Our Interpretation

In our interpretation of Untitled, we utilized the sculpture’s alcove and took pictures that show the way in which we interacted with this piece. The photography depicts a subject interacting with the piece in various ways—whether in a fetal position emphasizing the vastness of nature and how it makes us as an audience (and yet also a participant) feel humbled, or at an angle that shows only the legs, almost giving off the illusion that the subject and the sculpture are one harmonious existence. We think that Rückriem’s work is intended to be a piece with which the public is meant to interact, to participate, and its depiction of the beauty and simplicity of nature emphasizes the idea that we as an audience must participate and interact with nature as a whole, as well.

Credits

Sean Norton – Action planner, Blog Creator

Erika Dietz – Researcher, Blog writer

Chloe Raysor – Researcher, Photographer

Bibliography

“Berlin Wall.” HISTORY. August 29, 2018. A&E Television Networks, December 15 2009. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall.

McBride, Michael R. “How Jackson Pollock and the CIA Teamed Up to Win The Cold War.” A Medium Corporation. Oct 15, 2017. medium.com/@MichaelMcBride/how-jackson-pollock-and-the-cia-teamed-up-to-win-the-cold-war-6734c40f5b14

Ulrich Rückriem. Donald Young Gallery, 1987.

“Ulrich Rückriem.” Nordenhake. August 16, 2018. nordenhake.com/artists/ulrich-rueckriem.

“Ulrich Rückriem.” Tate. www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ulrich-Rückriem-2258