Klaus Weber: Thinking Fountains
‘I often confront the hardness of sculpture with something that has a soft concept’.
Klaus Weber’s Thinking Fountains is an outdoor sculpture commission featuring two water-spouting bronze figures and a narrow waterfall cascading from an elevated concrete walkway. It was designed by the artist to animate the brutalist architecture of the Hayward Gallery, creating a sense of passage for both passers-by and visitors.
With flowing water an ancient metaphor for human consciousness, the work also embodies Weber’s hopes for what an art gallery can offer: the chance to ‘widen our viewpoint, sharpen our senses and make new connections in our brains’.
In this video the artist introduces the work and discusses how it works within the brutalist environment of Hayward Gallery.
‘I’m a big lover of the Hayward Gallery building… the two figures here are like two figures in front of a portal for the entrance of the gallery’
Klaus Weber
Thinking Fountains is generously supported by the Hayward Gallery Commissioning Committee and HENI, with additional support from the Rothschild Foundation. Commission made possible with Art Fund support.