Kathrin Schlegel is a German installation and visual artist creating research-based, site-specific, and conceptual works exhibited internationally. Her projects explore spatial perception, human experience, and site-specific narratives.
   Kathrin Schlegel
Der Stein Des Weisen
Context related exhibition
Large objects, resembling pieces of a giant eggshell, lie scattered throughout the space. These are the remnants of the model that was used to cast the stainless-steel sculpture. A video projection shows the pedestal’s entire surface and slowly reveals the traces that 300 years of turbulent history left behind.

Video credits: director Kathrin Schlegel, production, animation and texturing by Richard van Dijk, photogrammetric modelling by Th3rd, sound design by Martijn Tellinga, additional photo material by Gert-Jan van Rooij. HD 1920x1080 & UHD 3840x2160 (16:9) @ 60 fps, 35m 03s / dual channel

Der Stein des Weisen is the title of the new work of art that is situated in Park Noord, campus Woudestein at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. It reactivates the historic pedestal that carried Hendrick de Keyser’s famous statue of humanist Desiderius Erasmus for around three centuries until it was replaced in 1963. This transhistorical work of art safeguards the nearly forgotten base for the future with a glass shelter and leaves open the possibility of one day being reunited with its original bronze statue. The pedestal is accompanied by a monumental stainless-steel sculpture that resembles a thought or speech bubble. The highly polished surface of the bubble reflects the spectator and the surroundings. The remaining footprint of the statue invites the beholder to follow in Erasmus’ footsteps, contemplate the philosopher’s thoughts and re-examine his legacy.










Updated 05.01.26