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Hermann Glöckner (1889-1987)
Faltung I (Fold I), 1967/75

(Original form in cardboard: 1934, model: 1964). Brass alloy, ed. 6/6. 18.1 x 8.3 x 7.3 in.
Sammlung DaimlerChrysler

Glöckner’s sculpture, Fold I (20), which follows an early cardboard model, belongs to his so-called “Tafelwerk” (folded cardboard panels, called “Tafeln”) that he developed between 1930 and 1935, and through which he examined the spatial potential of strictly systematized and reduced geometrical forms. These “Tafeln” anticipate aspects of the “Faltungen,” collage-like paper foldings that he created from 1935 onwards and that today are considered Glöckner's essential contribution to 20th-century art, preparing the way for the minimalist tendencies of the 1960s. Faltung I is based on the diagonal folding of a rectangle that – balancing on the tip – unfolds as a form in space. After World War II, Glöckner referenced his “panel works” in his foldings and collages, as can be seen in the two paper works exhibited here.