SQUARING THE HEAD OF HERMANN Did you ever wonder what Arminius was thinking that day of September 9 A.D.? by Danica Gianola
It's a raining day of September, on the year 9 A.D. Three Roman legions (Legio XVII, Legio XVIII and Legio XIX) are entering into the Teutoburg forest, in what is today North Rhine Westphalia - Germany, under a severe thunderstorm. Publius Quinctilus Varus is going to find his death today, along with his 15'000 to 20'000 soldiers. Against them, not only the bad weather, but Herman too. The defeat is so neat that the emperor August, as soon as he's informed - not only hits the ceiling, but even bangs his head to the walls, shouting "Quintili Vare, legiones redde!" (Quinctilius Varus give me back my legions!). The fight, apart from deciding the destiny of Varus and his men, decides the border of the Roman Empire.
So said, if you ever wondered about which were the thought into the mind of this chief, who later sent the head of the enemy on a silver plate to King Marbod, the only way to do so, apart from devination, is to actually enter into his brain... Welcome into the head of Herman! Completed in 1875, on the plans by Ernst von Bandel, the Hermannsdenkmal is what we have today commemorating this decisive battle.
Markus Krueger from digital-park.de was toying with the idea of understanding what happened in front of Hermann's eyes that day, when he came up with the project to take panoramic pictures inside the monument. But his project did not end there: he decided to literally...square the circle, by creating a tridimensional environment, mapping the panoramic images on the six sides of a cube of 5 x 5 x 6 meters.There is no other way to explain it, but to use his words "For the very first time I managed to built a spherical cube in the real world". His work is amazing and Herman himself would have been proud of Mr. Krueger accomplishments. Not only because the commander's memory isn't lost to history books and provincialism, but because his name is perpetuated in a work of art unique in its genre, being the real first panoramic image that has been trasposed into reality, in a process that is the opposite of any natural tendency. Attaboy!
Now, for the tech-wizards: the cube has been constructed in a way which make it possible to be shown outdoor. To make it possible, the printed images have been mounted on a narrow grid, over black canvas, which shadows the light of the sun. And, on the surface of this last one, the panoramic image of the outside of the monument has been mounted. The prints have been produced on a Vutek 5300, mounted on a frame of aluminium, held by plastic grips, which shorten the distance between the canvas and the frame.
The construction and setup has been realized by Von Hagen Design. Markus wishes to thank them for their efforts.
What are you waiting for? The cube is currently on display. Just look for the 'Hangar 21', Charles-Lindbergh-Ring 10, D - 32756 Detmold, Germany
The exhibition is open from 11.11.2007 to 31.01.2008 all weekends Saturday and Sunday from 11 am - 18 pm. On request other opening times can be arranged.
The cube should be travelling through Germany in 2008 and will possibly appear at the ITB in Berlin in March.
