Inge Mahn is best known for her enigmatic sculptures and installations, which largely dispense with color and are often set in motion mechanically, creating surprising and absurd moments. The multiple Schlange (Snake), which is to be installed as a wall object, dates back to a work from 1982 and is a classic modified readymade. A black water hose from Continental, marketed under the brand name “Goldschlange” (golden snake) because it is decorated with a distinctive yellow wavy line reminiscent of the pattern on an adder, was bent into a circle 40 cm in diameter and both ends were held together by a “bandage” made of plaster – a favorite working material of the sculptor. Without any further intervention, such as the suggestion of a “face,” the piece of plaster becomes a head, and the familiar image of a snake biting its own tail emerges automatically. The Ouroboros (ancient Greek Οὐροβόρος, “self-devourer” or literally “tail-eater”) is a symbol that was already attested in ancient Egyptian iconography. The snake, which bites its own tail and thus forms a closed circle with its body, is also known as the snake of eternity – an image that contrasts with the profanity of the material used. The object comes with a flat wooden box with a pencil drawing on the lid that illustrates this idea once again. The multiple is signed and numbered on the box.
Text: Eva Scharrer