Kurt Schwitters' 'Merzbau

several images of Schwitters' Merzbau can be found here.From 1919 until a night in early October 1937, when Allied bombing destroyed the Merzbau, Kurt Schwitters continuously composed and manipulated this assemblage [Fig.1].The project, variously categorized as an architectural undertaking, 1 as "Schwitters' most important collage project," 2 or as a performatively elaborated sculptural program, 3 entailed the ceaseless manipulation of the artist's Hanover studio.Stretching vertically and horizontally to adjacent rooms, it eventually resulted in an all-encompassing environment.The internal space was transformed by the aggregation of found materials, objects, and sculptural forms affixed to the architectural structure.Alternately, Schwitters cut into and removed portions of the material pile-up he had amassed, as well as pieces of the architecture to which they were connected.He finally cut through the ceiling and floor to extend his work outside

Green house · Art, Aesthetics, and Perception · German Literature and Culture Studies · Literature and Cultural Memory