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Il Ponte II
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

REMATERIALIZED: FROM DIGITAL BACK TO ANALOGUE

- Gustav van Treeck designs Munich mosaic garden by means of video art

Munich, 10th June 2015 – In the north-eastern part of Munich Westfriedhof, a piece of video art by the Munich artist Christoph Brech is rematerialized: Approx. 180.000 earth-coloured, black, violet, blue and green tesserae are assembled to form two motifs recreating Brech’s designs based on a video work. Together, the two glass mosaics form the centrepiece of and lend their name to the new communal facility for urn graves of the city.

Posted 30 June 2015

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The two wall mosaics covering more than 10 square meters each have meticulously been laid by hand in the Gustav van Treeck Studios. With square tesserae of one centimetre (smalts), the motifs of a length of seven meters and a height of 1,37 meters create the impression of one harmonious picture. In addition, the mosaicists of the workshops used 66.000 square smalts for the walls and floors of two medium blue water basins which invite visitors to the graveyard to take some time to pause. The material used comes from Venice, where it is broken by hand in the centuries old traditional manner.

Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

The "Mosaikgärten" (mosaic gardens), as the city of Munich calls the new communal facility for urn graves, have been officially inaugurated with a ceremony at the end of May.
An artist’s video achieves tactile appeal in wall mosaics Christoph Brech works with video art, photography and installations. The motifs are therefore based on a video work he filmed in Florence which had to be frozen to serve as a model for the two wall mosaics. The artist decided himself on two stills and reworked their colours. The graphic artists of the Gustav van Treeck Studios used these designs to create a pixel-by-pixel pattern that specifies the position and colour of each smalt for the mosaicists. The two stills are just over two minutes apart in the video - the two sites of the mosaics are separated by a two minute walk. Thereby, the artist elegantly transforms the digital into the analogue.

Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

Brech filmed his video work "Il Ponte" in 2011 in Florence. It shows the reflections of the Ponte alla Caraia in the river Arno. Because of the wind the rippled surface of the water only shows an abstract view at first. As the video progresses the water becomes increasingly calmer, the bridge is reflected more clearly. "When enlarging video stills the pixels which make up the digital pictures appear. This means mosaics and video stills have a similar image structure. The pixels of the still can be transferred one by one onto the glass smalts" says the artist. "For me, it was especially appealing to translate the ephemeral material of the video film into a technique that had been used even in pre-Christian times."

Checking the large motif by a view into a mirror on the ceiling
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

The medium blue water basins
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

Installation oft he mosaic 
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

Unique surface of hand-cut mosaic smalt
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

Mosaic, glass mosaic
The oldest mosaics made of stone have been found in Mesopotamia near the city of Ur. They date from Sumerian times, about 2.500 – 3.000 BC. The word "mosaic" comes from "musa", named after the nine muses of Greek mythology, daughters of Zeus. They were considered to be protectors of the sciences and the arts.
The ancient decoration technique was already popular with the Greeks and Romans. Especially in recent times, a renewed interest in mosaics can be clearly observed among building authorities, artists and architects. By joining small pieces to create images and ornaments, the mosaicist, so to speak, paints with different materials.

Glass mosaic is made of cast glass slabs coloured with different ferric oxides. Depending on the concept, these slabs are cut into squares or rectangular smalts or directly into shapes. The peculiarity of glass mosaics is the variety and intensity of colours which the selected material lends to the work of art.
Besides smalt mosaics as in the case of the mosaic gardens, mosaics of mixed materials are possible: Cuttings of glass next to smalts and slabs of natural stone can be combined perfectly following the artistic concept. Mosaics laid by hand cannot be compared with industrially produced "standard solutions". The unique surface effect and the incredible colour diversity turn the works into special highlights on pieces of architecture, both inside and outside.

The smalts in different colours 
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

The assembling of the motif 
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

The assembling of the motif 
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

The assembling of the motif 
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

On Gustav van Treeck, Munich
The Gustav van Treeck Studios stand for tradition and innovation: In cooperation with internationally renowned artists they create masterpieces of modern glass painting, glass sculptures, exclusive mosaics, works in float glass painting or fusing technology, glass and mosaic restorations as well as reconstructions. Whenever art is created to enhance an architectural project or to conserve an architectural masterpiece the studios are there to guide and assist.

The Munich studios were founded in 1887. The early years have been dominated by commissions for architectural glass in churches and for secular buildings. In 1903, as an appreciation of their contribution to the arts, the studios were granted the title 'Bayerische Hofglasmalerei' (Bavarian Court Glasspainters) by the Royal Bavarian Court. Already prior to 1900 and increasingly so in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, the studios activities became more and more international. The first mosaics were manufactured in 1910.

GUSTAV VAN TREECK – WERKSTÄTTEN FÜR MOSAIK UND GLASMALEREI GMBH
Gustav van Treeck - Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art
Schwindstraße 3
D - 80798 Munich
www.hofglasmalerei.com

Preparing the installation 
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

Installation of the mosaic 
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

View on both motifs. To walk from the first site „“Il Ponte I“ (on the right hand) to the second motif (Il Ponte II) takes you 2 minutes 
Gustav van Treeck
Studios for Mosaic and Architectural Art, Munich
Mosaic Garden, Munich
„Il Ponte I + II“ by Christoph Brech

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