Stone and Floor Made of Gold

The installation’s title Stein und Boden sind aus Gold (Stone and Floor Made of Gold) refers to a saying that illustrates the high expectations of the Turkish country population when it comes to their imagination of Istanbul. Roland Stratmann plays with the clichés that shape the real and imaginary image of this city. One element of his rampant city sculpture derives from the statements made by Berlin youngsters about the Turkish metropolis. Stratmann visited schools with different ethnic and social imprint to ask the students what they knew about Istanbul. As a written text, these statements are incorporated into the sculpture which is mainly made of wire netting. The hexagonal wire mesh refers to ornamental elements of Istanbul’s city structure. The sculpture, which is installed in front of a window of the Martin Gropius Bau, comprises a tranparency that allows a view into the depth of the cityscape, with Berlin becoming visible in the background. Yet the overlapping character does not allow any sorted overall picture.
On the last day of the exhibition, the artist and four assistants compressed and reshaped the entire installation into a „Erinnerungsblock“ (memory block).