Crouching Tiger, Hidden Turtle

‘Crouching Tiger and Turtle – Magic Mountain’ is a piece of landscape art that was designed by the sculptors Ulrich Genth and Heike Mutter for Duisburg’s Capital of Culture project. The sculpture is a roller coaster without the hurl factor, or the white knuckle experience, allowing visitors to walk the twists and turns at a turtle’s pace, if you will. The viewer’s experience is twofold; not only are they experiencing the sculpture itself, they are experiencing the Ruhr landscape around them from perspectives that weren’t available to them before.

It is also easy to see the methodology behind the title of the sculpture, beyond it being a cultural reference. The title embodies the potential for speed, power and a burst of energy that one could expect from a crouching tiger about to leap into action; this is what the viewer initially sees and expects when faced with a rollercoaster. However, the ‘turtle’ aspect of the title references the slow speed at which the viewer can appreciate the sculpture.

The sculpture is constructed from steel and zinc, paying homage to the park in which it sits, which used to be a zinc production site, along with this, Duisburg is also home to Krupp Mannesmann, a large steel manufacturer. Though this is only in the details, it is a clever move by the sculptors, as the local connections and relevance would serve as an argument against those who would oppose such a large structure. The sculpture took eight weeks to assemble, and all in all it cost €1.7 million to produce, and a ticket to experience this unusual structure is a fraction of the cost at €1.70… if you don’t include the air fare.

Though there is one part of me that feels a little disappointed with the sculpture, regarding the loop. Initially I was very intrigued with the concept and had hoped that there would have been a way to traverse the loop without potentially meeting your demise. However, the design of the sculpture is true to the rollercoaster form and the stairs do go upside down, sadly meaning only Sonic would be able to appreciate that particular aspect of the sculpture, whereas normal viewers have to turn around and walk the opposite way.

The inclusive nature of the sculpture is not a new idea in contemporary installation; it is in fact becoming increasingly popular, as more artists wish to create an experience for the viewer, thus leaving them with a deeply ingrained impression of the work. It is hard to look at this sculpture and not be reminded of Carsten Holler’s ‘Test Site’ installations, which featured a series of helter-skelter style slides in the turbine room of the Tate Modern, with each slide starting at a different floor of the gallery. Here the viewer could either watch others use the slides or have a go themselves if they chose to. Though the experiences of ‘Test Site’ and ‘Crouching Tiger and Turtle’ are set to different speeds, the former being very fast and the latter slow, they both definitely play on the participant’s sense of gravity and perhaps vertigo. At some points ‘Crouching Tiger and Turtle’ stands at eleven metres high, which can deliver a range of emotions to participants, making each person’s experience inherently different, as one person may feel exhilarated to be on a structure this high, whereas another may have to grip on to the rails for dear life.

Without delving too far into art theory, the contributing movement behind these types of sculptures is called phenomenology. The phenomenology movement began in Germany in the early twentieth century as philosophers coined the term which is inherently concerned with man’s existentialist, bodily engagement with his surroundings. However, in art it began with artists such as Cezanne and Picasso, who liberated art from previous conventions by focusing on colour and form, as opposed to the actual subject being portrayed. Cezanne’s beliefs in the phenomenological realm were so strong that even believed that art experience was multi-sensory, and the vividness of an image could evoke the sense of smell. Though ‘Crouching Tiger and Turtle’ is a long way off from the art of Cezanne, the multi-sensory approach has been fully embraced.

This sculpture can appeal to an audience of all ages, and without the confines of a gallery it also appeals to those who would normally turn down a day of viewing art. It is a sculpture that offers the audience two things, a confident piece of landscape art, as well as a lot of fun. If you ever find yourself in Duisburg, you should definitely make time to visit ‘Crouching Tiger and Turtle – Magic Mountain’.