Art at Work - London
Shortly after the Deutsche Bank’s London head office moved into Winchester House in 1999, it soon became a building of renown. Due to the mix of architecture, sculpture and numerous pieces of international works of art displayed within, the building offers its very own version of the ‘art at work’ concept.
’Storytelling’ is the term, which London colleagues use to describe the display of original artworks at their place of work. The long, wave-like structure of Winchester House demanded a tailor-made art display concept, because in this old city by the Thames, the dialogue between British and German contemporary art takes place horizontally not vertically.
Each of the nearly 60 conference rooms display a prominent British or German artist and is named after the artist itself. The hallways therefore often echo staff expressions such as: ‘Is Freud free at present?’ or ‘Are we meeting in Richter?’ This might seem a bit strange to any visitor at first, but it has become commonplace amongst staff and business partners of the British head office.
The personal encounter with diverse art at the work place has become such a familiar occurrence, that the names of artists like Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Richard Hamilton or Sigmar Polke are mentioned in conversations like old acquaintances. The conference rooms form a focal point of themed displays which orientate themselves either by the artist, a genre or significant exhibitions. To aid the onlooker, artist biographies and catalogues have been placed in each room.
However two monumental sculptures in the lobby are guaranteed to exert a special attraction. Next to Anish Kapoor’s polished stainless steel sculpture ‘Turning the World Upside Down II’ (1996) one can also see ‘Secretions’ (1998) by the British artist Tony Cragg, a sculpture made up of thousands of ivory coloured cubes.
The models of thought and perception of the information age, going between micro- and macrocosms, which are commented upon here, mirror the cooperation that takes place in the bank: Thousands of molecular looking cubes which are assembled in organic clusters appear to symbolise daily life, of being caught between a system and coincidence and chaos versus order.
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