Description
Berlin-based Australian artist Joseph Marr works with sugar as his primary medium, creating sculpture, photo collage, video installation, and painting. Marr’s sculpture “Together” in the Klo Bar in Berghain commissioned in 2013 is a love story about the journey of transformation within human relationships. Central to his practice is a conceptual exploration of consciousness that fluidly shifts between object, painting, and moving image.
“Open Heart” was an 800 kg sugar sculpture of an anatomical human heart melting in Park am Gleisdreieck during Berlin Art Week 2024. The new monograph documents the full process behind the installation, as well as the paintings created from the recycled sugar following the work’s transformation.
The publication opens with an essay by Pofalla titled “Open Heart Reflections”. The book continues with a dialogue between Marr and artist Michael Sailstorfer discussing the challenges and ambitions of the project. A medical text exploring the functions of the human heart concludes the volume, together with an explanation of the historical medical model used as the sculpture’s reference—manufactured in Japan in 1890 by the Shimadzu Corporation. Featuring over 100 colour plates by photographer Pascal Hoffmann & impeccably designed by Heller-C GmbH.
