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Karl von Orb - Artist in Berlin, Germany

Tyre

2021

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Title

Tyre

Year

2021

Dimensions

66 × 66 × 22.5 cm

Material

Pirelli P Zero tire, black aluminium rim

Photo Credit

Jens Staudte

Description

From a distance, the object reads as a wheel: rim, tire, readiness for motion. Closer inspection reveals that the structure cannot perform its task. The rim is shaped after a Gothic window, substituting load-bearing geometry with ornament and void.

A form historically designed to admit light and transcendence is embedded within an object meant for speed, weight, and friction. Function gives way to reference; movement is replaced by suspension.

The wheel remains complete in appearance, yet unusable in practice. Utility is displaced by symbolism, and a system optimized for circulation absorbs a structure that resists it.

What persists is a collision of logics: motion and stasis, efficiency and excess, infrastructure and belief.