In early March 2021 a proposal for an outdoor art object was submitted for the art-for-architecture competition for a school in Maikammer in Rhineland Palatinate, the Gebrüder-Ullrich-Realschule plus. With the title “Hommage an die Gebrüder Ullrich” (Homage to the Ullrich Brothers) it commemorates the invention of the spring joint.
Art on a school building is for those who attend the school: the teachers and above all the pupils. They all have the right to expect that the art provides added value to them and to the everyday life of their school. They wish to be and should be proud of their local community, their school and their school community. To be proud means above all to identify – to develop a feeling that “we belong together”.
The Gebrüder-Ullrich-Realschule plus has a name that nowhere in the world has the same justification as in Maikammer, and probably exists nowhere else in the world. For the people here, this means “Our school is unique. We are unique.”
The reason for the pupils’ pride is an invention. This invention has been in use worldwide for more than 100 years and has not been superseded to this day by any technological developments. The invention is also so simple and so practical that the pupils can easily understand it and relate it to their school, which emphasises learning for technical and manual trades. In short: this invention matches the school. This is the exact place where people can be proud of the invention of the spring joint for folding yardsticks. Pride is one thing. Stimulus is another. Young people need role models.
In this spirit, a sculptural object consisting of two yardsticks makes a statement. The feelings of belonging, identification, pride and a striving for role models already exist, but gain a foundation, an “anchor” in the mind, and are thus reinforced by a visible sign.
This sign is appropriated by the pupils. It makes the school even more into THEIR school. Because this sign makes sense only there. Nowhere else. It cannot be taken away from them and transferred to other places. (A unique requisite for school-class photos with originality.)
The function as a sign is complemented by a further function: communication of art. For pupils at this school, with its emphasis on technical and manual skills, art is a counterweight that serves to expand horizons. From the art object, the young people learn that they are offered not only a representation of a familiar object but that more arises from this representation: an “image”. They learn that the form of the well-known folding yardstick has an aesthetic dimension, and that it is worth taking a new look at this form again and again. From this point of view it takes on a different appearance for them and is thus alive. Finally, they learn that, in its formal substance, an everyday object can also be beautiful and a source of pleasure.