Stela, 2006

Heinz Mack’s Stela is an outdoor installation located on Aleje Marcinkowskiego in Poznań. Installed in 2006 between Freedom Square and the National Museum, the sculpture exemplifies the artist’s characteristic approach of uniting light, movement, and space in a dynamic, visually shifting form.

The eighteen-meter-high steel column is topped with a rotating head composed of triangular elements, which turn three to four times per minute. Powered by a mechanical system, the head, combined with the polished surface of the metal, ensures that the sculpture constantly reflects light. During the day, sunlight animates the entire form, causing it to transform continuously and engage in a visual dialogue with its surroundings.

The Poznań Stela is one of many similar works by Heinz Mack found across European cities, as well as in the United States and Japan. All share the artist’s fascination with light — its variability and the profound impact it has on how form is perceived in open space.

The work was created in cooperation with the Wielkopolska Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts.