36½ (h) x 177¼ x 157½ in
Bettina Pousttchi at Chemnitz 2025, Purple Path, European Capital of Culture, Schwarzenberg
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The sculpture 42 Tage by artist Bettina Pousttchi is installed permanently along the PURPLE PATH in Schwarzenberg, Chemnitz, Germany.
Pousttchi transforms everyday urban objects such as guardrails, railings, and bollards by twisting, bundling, repositioning, coloring, or chrome-plating them. Her sculptures both captivate the viewer and serve as reminders of the forces that bent them. They symbolize the modern individual – hurried by traffic, pressured by the pace of life, and constantly resisting the deformations imposed by industrial society. For 42 Tage, Pousttchi has arranged 42 bollard-like elements from her Squeezer series into several groups throughout Schwarzenberg’s urban space.
The title 42 Tage ("42 Days") refers to the legendary “Free Republic of Schwarzenberg,” a brief moment of self-governance described in Chemnitz-born writer Stefan Heym’s 1984 novel Schwarzenberg. Following Germany’s surrender and the liberation from fascism on May 8, 1945, the citizens of Schwarzenberg found themselves in an unusual situation: they had been overlooked by both the Soviet and American occupying forces. In response, they spontaneously organized a utopian, autonomous republic – one that lasted only 42 days.
Chemnitz 2025
Oberes Tor 2, 08340
Schwarzenberg, Germany