GÜNTER HAESE

In the early 1960s, Günter Haese, a masterclass student of Ewald Mataré, discovered brass wire and parts of disassembled clocks as construction elements for three-dimensional objects, and in 1964 he was granted a solo exhibition of these metal objects at the museum of Ulm, Germany. The exhibition proved so popular that Haese received a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that same year. In the following years, he was invited to participate in documenta 3, in the Venice Biennale, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York awarded him its prestigious prize. Haese’s works of art are transparent objects made of brass and phosphor bronze. Balls, wheels and other filigree parts are lined up on very fine spirals in soldered wire mesh, adding up to uniquely two-dimensional kinetic works of art. Unlike members of the ZERO group such as Heinz Mack or Günther Uecker, Haese needs no drives for his kinetic sculptures. Even a gentle puff of air can set these delicate structures vibrating.