Urs Fischer. Big Clay #4

A 13-metre sculpture that stands as a metaphor for humanity’s innate need to create—reflecting the core mission of the House of Culture: to make creative expression accessible to all.

Several months before the opening of GES-2 House of Culture, Swiss artist Urs Fischer’s (b. 1973) monumental work Big Clay #4 (2014) was installed at the descent to the Vodootvodny Canal. Previously exhibited in public squares in New York and Florence, this striking sculpture references the fundamental origins of artistic creation.

All photos: Gleb Leonov

The piece began as small bits of clay kneaded in the artist’s hands during his creative process. These modest forms were then dramatically enlarged and cast in aluminium—transforming soft, malleable material into a permanent metal structure that serves as a powerful reminder of the value and fragility of creativity, culture and art.

Fischer’s conceptual works consistently explore the everyday materiality of our world. Working meticulously with materials such as wood, clay, wax, bread, and glass, he transforms simple elements into perfect forms presented in unexpected contexts.

Photos: Gleb Leonov, Vadim Shtein, Ruslan Shavaleev, Anya Todich

This work is essentially a monument to the human need to create—something we’re born with from earliest childhood. Give a child a piece of clay, and they immediately want to transform it into something else. Why? Did someone teach them this? Of course not! This creative impulse is inherent in humans from birth, and that’s precisely what Big Clay #4 symbolises.

— Francesco Bonami, curator (from an interview with The Art Newspaper)

Big Clay #4 standing beside the House of Culture symbolises the innate human drive toward creativity—which GES-2 aims to nurture in all its diverse forms.