Hammering Man

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Hammering Man by Jonathan Borofsky, 1990
Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage, Westend-Süd
Frankfurt, October 2002

“Hammering Man is a series of monumental kinetic sculptures by Jonathan Borofsky. The two-dimensional painted steel sculptures were designed at different scales (from approximately 12 feet to 49 feet high), were painted black, and depict a man with a motorized arm and hammer movement to symbolize workers throughout the world. They were structurally engineered by Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA). The Hammering Man sculpture in Frankfurt, Germany is 21 metres (68.9 ft) tall and was commissioned in 1990, for the new Messeturm (exhibition tower) building at the Frankfurt Trade Fair. An unofficial 6 ft tall copy of the Hammering Man appeared in Frankfurt in the 1990s in the Hülya-Platz (in the district Bockenheim). It was donated by a citizen's group against neo-nazism to commemorate the Solingen arson attack of 1993, and its hammer was designed with a hand crank that demolished a swastika emblem. This stealth sculpture was often vandalized and in April 2007 it was removed and scrapped after becoming so badly damaged and corroded that it was considered a danger for public safety. It was later replaced by a successor.” (Hammering Man, Wikipedia)