Fragment

The fragment is a section of a sphere, one part of the whole.  It is cut with an acetylene torch out of 3cm heavy sheet steel and then formed into its spherical shape while still red-hot.  Its sharp edges and clean corners define its exact place in the cosmos.  The small piece, missing in the cosmos, predicts both the shape and even the size of the whole.  Thus the fragment defines the cosmos from which it is absent.

The sculptures ‘Cosmos’ and ‘Fragment’ relate to one another in meaning and form but they start from opposite points.  For ‘Cosmos’ it is the whole, whereas for ‘Fragment’ the starting point is meaning and form.

In the interplay between the two points Wolf is seeking to develop his complex artistic concept of the ‘missing piece’, and these two incomplete early sculptures are the forerunners of the later works.  ‘Cosmos’ leads on to ‘Longing’ and ‘Fragment’ leads on to ‘Earthbound’.