Concrete relief The Diversity of Life (Ger. Die Vielfalt unseres Lebens)

Artworks

Description

The impressive bas-relief by Jo Jastram is located on the south side of the main building of the former polyclinic. The concrete relief slabs in six different sizes are arranged according to the structure and structure of the building and show the theme "The Variety of Our Lives". From smooth surfaces blended into the wall, to deep reliefs, the artist designed three-dimensional figurative scenes using deep reliefs placed in the wall. The scenes, presented in a socialist way, refer to the events of everyday life: the family sitting with the mother with the baby and standing next to the father with a child in his arms; the show procession; dancers; work in the factory.

Historical background

The building of the factory polyclinic was erected in the years 1964-1965, when with the settlement of new employees (7,000 employees in a chemical fiber factory) it became necessary to expand medical care. The functional building was built using prefabricated elements typical of the Eastern Bloc. Responsible for the architectural finishing of the building, the "Socialist Working Group" (Ger. "Sozialistische Arbeitsgemeinschaft") announced in 1964 a competition to design a relief on the narrow side of the clinic building. The contestants were the victorious Joachim "Jo" Jastram, Heinz Mamat, Alfred Priebe, Werner Stötzer and Jürgen von Woyski. Contrary to the original plans to design only part of the wall, the Jastram design was installed five years later with minor tweaks across the entire surface.

After the end of production at the artificial fiber factory, the polyclinic lost its function and remained empty for a long time. Today, the building is used as an office space for an IT service provider.

Information about the artists

Born in 1928 in Rostock (Germany) - died in 2011 in Riebnitz-Damgarten (Germany)
1949: Sculpting Secondary School in Empfertshausen / Rhön
1951: studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden with W. Arnold
1954: continuation of studies at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art with H. Drake
1956: freelance sculptor in Rostock
1961: study trip to Uzbekistan
1964: lecturer in Plastic Design at the University of Greifswald
1965-1967: Travels to Mongolia, Siberia and Scandinavia
1972 and 1973: GDR Art Award
1975: chairman of the International Committee of the Biennale of the Baltic Sea Countries, Norway and Iceland
1980: lecturer and professor of sculpture at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art until 1986
1983-1995: member of the Academy of Arts
From 1988: travel to Africa (Ethiopia, Addis Ababa)
Other works:
1970: reliefs "On Human Responsibility", University of Rostock
1976: relief "History of human development" Palace of the Republic, Berlin
1978: "The Fountain of Joy of Life" in Rostock with Reinhard Dietrich
1979: relief "Song of Life" in Haus der Kultur Gera
1992: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Gewandhaus Leipzig Memorial.

Artwork review

Socialist realist art of the GDR. The scenes, presented in a socialist way, refer to the events of everyday life: the family sitting with the mother with the baby and standing next to the father with a child in his arms; the show procession; dancers; work in the factory.