Feeling tense (1989) Ewerdt Hilgemann

Eight six-meter-wide bent steel tubes painted red are randomly arranged between two facades in Hooglandstraat. Hilgemann integrates forces of nature such as gravity, air pressure and erosion into his autonomous work. He creates conditions to make these forces visible. With the pipes clamped between the walls, the work evokes a physical tension, which over time has become intertwined with the experience of that place and at the same time functions as an underpass. This tension is permanently evoked and turns a simple everyday passage into a special experience. With this work Hilgemann made a reference to demolition and new construction, supports and struts. It seems as if the tubes help to keep the panels in place, or else are pushed out of their shape by the panels, but of course that is not the case. Hilgemann worked with artists such as Joost Baljeu, Marinus Boezem, Ad Dekkers, Jan van Munster and Carel Visser. This group is called the by the Gorcums Museum Gorcum School mentioned. Hilgemann is best known internationally for his sculptures, called “Implosion“: Imploded cubes of stainless steel, which have been vacuumed by the artist. His work is classified as geometric-abstract art.