09 The Armchair

As with “The Floating One”, chance also played a part in the armchair. After a blast at the quarry, a rather distinctive block remained as a leftover, to which Herbert Meusburger initially paid little attention. Soon, however, the idea emerged of turning it into a kind of executive chair for himself—a throne that would take its place in the middle of the quarry.

At the time this sculpture was created, it was above all personal challenges that inspired the artist to undertake this work. Sometimes, he said, one needs the monotonous labour—the hewing of stone—without having to think too much; this is how Herbert Meusburger described his state of mind at the time, and thus the creation of the armchair. There was to be space to set down a wine glass; otherwise, details were dispensed with.

Here, too, in the garden of Restaurant Guth, the armchair invites you to linger—to contemplate nature or simply to stop thinking.

An executive chair for the artist, created out of not thinking.

A place to linger.