Lapsus
2013, Michael Volkmer
Remagen – Leinpfad / Near the campsite Goldene Meile
With his work of art entitled LAPSUS (Latin for »slip-up«), Michael Volkmer has executed a seven-metre-long ground installation for the Arp Museum's riverside sculpture park on the towpath near the »Goldene Meile« campsite.
About the work
Der Künstler nutzt den Begriff Lapsus im Sinne eines eher geringfügigen, unwillkürlichen Fehlers. Für seine Arbeit verändert er die Fläche des Leinpfads am Rhein. Er ersetzt die grauen Verbund-Pflastersteine durch eingefärbte Steine. Diese bilden Buchstaben und ergeben das Wort »LAPSUS«.
Volkmer uses the term lapsus in the sense of a minor, unintentional mistake. He changed the surface of the towpath beside the Rhine for his work, replacing the grey interlocking paving stones with dyed stones. These stones form letters that spell out the word LAPSUS.
In doing so, Michael Volkmer consciously disrupts an existing standardised, functional classification system and aesthetically redefines it. He retains the preordained arrangement of the paving stones, laid out in a so-called stretcher course, while simultaneously apparently changing the structure by picking out the »inscribed« word LAPSUS in his favoured colour RAL 1015 (light ivory).
In the spirit of Hans Arp, Michael Volkmer draws in this way on the former's artistically adopted concept of metamorphosis, which brings forth a new form within form – in the sense of transformation – through the breaking-up of existing orders. The floor installation with its stones arranged in flowing lines has established a sense of togetherness with the gently flowing waves of the Rhine.
About the artist
Michael Volkmer was born in Ludwigshafen in 1966. He lives and works in Neuhofen.