im Goldhaus
im Goldhaus (2019) is now on display in the Böttger Room of the Porcelain Gallery of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.
im Goldhaus was commissioned by the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) for their permanent collection to mark 300 years since the death of the German alchemist, Johann Friedrich Böttger.
Titled after the laboratory of Augustus II the Strong, the Goldhaus am Zwinger was a place of alchemy; a testing-ground for research into minerals and ores, where Böttger and E. W. von Tschirnhaus conducted their experiments leading to the invention of European porcelain. ‘I have an image of a laboratory bench in the Goldhaus,’ de Waal writes, 'a place of enquiry and possibility... It is a vitrine which allows me to think through philosophy, optics, burnished mirrors, white porcelain, honed marble, gold and light…a floating installation through which you can see through towards Böttger or the menagerie or a Meissen dinner service. It is a sculpture of beginnings.'
Image © SKD. Photography: Oliver Killig.