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Rebecca Horn, Seelenfenster (Painting with Sculpture “Zimbel Zen”), 2012

Chapter: Seelenfenster - Gesture, Movement, Cipher

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Ciphers
In the work of the German artist Rebecca Horn, image, text, drawing, poetry, and spatial installation flow into one another. Her works are often described as “ciphers,” poetic, elusive signs that create a magical, surreal atmosphere. Her oeuvre, which includes many kinetic sculptures, explores existence, transience, and the dissolution of boundaries between body, machine, and space.

Prosthetics
At the age of 21, after suffering lung damage from inhaling toxic substances at art school, Horn spent a year recovering. Confined to her sickbed, she began experimenting with prosthetics and minimal choreographies, eventually developing the series Body Extensions (1968–2024). The trained ballet dancer incorporated these strap-on body extensions, elongated body parts such as arms, fingers, and torsos, into her early performances, which later evolved into large, autonomous machine installations.

A whirl of gestural markings
Fragile, gestural drawings occupy a central place throughout her work, just as dance and movement do; in Horn’s practice, they belong together. Her installation Seelenfenster (2012) can be understood in this way as well. From a whirl of gestural markings, a rotational movement emerges in the drawing, like a dervish spinning around its own axis. The branch sculpture echoes this movement.

An inconspicuous steel box
Zimbel Zen combines movement, sound, and symbolic references. The work consists of an inconspicuous steel box, on the surface of which a stylized waterscape drawn in gentle waves can be seen. This wave recalls the aesthetic and the famous wave print by the Japanese artist Hokusai, who became renowned above all for his color woodblock prints.

A spiritual and artistic experience
A delicate shell hovers above the waves, slowly opening and closing in a rhythmic motion. This movement is not merely a technical detail. For brief moments, the shell reveals its interior, a play of light and shadow that symbolically represents transience, a recurring motif in Horn’s work. Inside the box, two small cymbals meet at a precisely controlled moment, producing a clear, vibrating tone that fills the space. This sound creates an almost trance-like, meditative atmosphere that places viewers in a contemplative state. The work invites a spiritual experience in the perception of artwork, space, and movement.


Audio

Note: The audio transcription is voiced by an AI.

Rebecca Horn, Seelenfenster, 2012
Installation with three works
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
Written Art Collection

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