Raul Walch
Street Fountain
21. August – 11. September 2011

They call it a car fountain. The "Street Fountain" sculpture by artist Raul Walch can be seen on Arnsberg's Neumarkt. However, the fountain can only be found during the day, as it drives away in the evening. Sculptures and fountains in public spaces often serve as street furniture, which Walch avoids by creating a mobile temporary version of a fountain.

To this end, Walch combines a Mercedes Coupé, built in 1974, with a newly developed fountain. The resulting "Street Fountain" can drive through the city and spray water up to 8 meters high. The artwork can not only create unusual situations and give the Neumarkt a new lease of life - above all, it can bring people closer and challenge conventions.

The sculpture moves on two levels: One horizontal and one vertical, sometimes simultaneously, and manages to activate our spatial perception, thereby asserting itself as a versatile sculpture of possibilities. Whether connected to electricity and a water pipe, or to a generator and in water circulation mode, the artwork plays with the relationship between nature and machine, water and oil, mobility and statics - and defines these contrasts as the true source of its power and tension.

The white, round vintage car and the dark, angular shape of the fountain emphasize the contrasts with which the artist wishes to confront us. The futuristic construction on the roof of the car looks like an urban cloud and indirectly raises questions about our future, not only with regard to environmental pollution, water supply and oil resources...

Raul Walch was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1980 and lives in Berlin, where he studies at the Institute for Spatial Experiments at the University of the Arts. "Street Fountain" is a sculpture from a long-term study and series of fountains that Walch realizes at various locations with and without occasion.
 
Das Projekt ist eine Kooperation zwischen dem Kunstverein Arnsberg, RWE Deutschland und dem Kulturbüro der Stadt Arnsberg zum Kunstsommer.
 
The project is a cooperation between the Kunstverein Arnsberg, RWE Deutschland and the cultural office of the city of Arnsberg for the Kunstsommer.