MAAAAASHxxx, Platz der Einheit, Stadtpark Regensburg
With MAAAAASHxxx, Folke Köbberling makes a striking statement in Regensburg’s public space. At its center is a full-scale replica of a luxury off-road vehicle, made not of steel or plastic, but of a specially developed, compostable material.
The massive body of the replica SUV is deliberately exposed to the elements. Rain, wind, and time begin to transform the sculpture: it becomes porous, disintegrates, and gradually merges with its surroundings. What initially appears as a symbol of sealing, appropriation of space, and dominance transforms into a living process.
Step by step, the object gives rise to a new place: permeable, open, and fertile for plants and microorganisms. The sculpture thus becomes part of an ecological cycle itself and challenges conventional notions of materiality, permanence, and use.
MAAAAASHxxx is more than a sculpture: it is an artistic intervention that critically reflects on the dominance of motorized traffic in public space while simultaneously reconnecting its surroundings more closely with nature.
CV
Folke Köbberling, Berlin
www.folkekoebberling.de | Instagram: folkekoebberling
Folke Köbberling is an artist and professor at the Institute for Architecture-Related Art at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Her work invites us to rethink architecture and the environment—as malleable systems shaped by human action that simultaneously enable new forms of coexistence.
She studied art at the Kassel Art Academy and architecture at the Berlin University of the Arts. Her international teaching career has taken her to Berlin, Vienna, London, Los Angeles, and Vancouver, among other places. For many years, she worked closely with Martin Kaltwasser. Their joint projects have been exhibited worldwide, including at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, the Shedhalle in Zurich, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, and at international festivals and institutions in Europe and the U.S.
Since 2014, Folke Köbberling has been realizing both solo and collaborative projects. At the center of her artistic practice are installations and performances in public spaces that explore the relationship between people and the built environment. In doing so, she questions existing structures, utilizes available resources, and often develops temporary architectures with an experimental, process-oriented character.
In recent years, her focus has broadened as a result of living and working in rural areas. Natural materials such as raw wool and earth are becoming increasingly important and are opening up new perspectives on cycles, materiality, and sustainable forms of construction.
