Bernard Witsch
The Rust Baron The welded and rusted works of Bernhard Witsch are an expression of his intellectual games within the topic of the human being. The evolution, its existence, conduct and everything it does, the reality and dreams, joy and fear – the entire spectrum of mankind. Witsch, the “Rust Baron”, is either humorous or serious, but always with a nod to a creation. He pieces nuts and bolts, plates and other small pieces of metal together with the welding equipment, assembling them into feminine and masculine bodies, which remain incomplete, because no human being is perfect. With the sculpture “Where Are My Ways?” the artist wanted to symbolize the constant ups and downs in the human existence and the quest for a secure and meaningful existence. “Where Are My Ways?” consists of an incomplete female torso and a unicycle without saddle. What a difficult balancing act that is: an incomplete human being on an incomplete means of locomotion coping with a long distance. In this day and age, the effort to create oneself a secure existence and, therefore, the foundation of a healthy life is so painful and agonizing. The rust illustrates the significant amount of time that can pass by before a goal, or the stages therein, can be achieved. The sculpture “Where Are My Roots?” symbolizes, on the one hand, the cosmopolitan and, on the other hand, the rootless people of today – depending on your point of view. That, in addition, poses the question: Where do we have our roots and where can we or want to put them down? Where will we make our efforts? People on the search for a sound foundation of being, that is “Where Are My Roots?”.
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