An amazing work of art

Spectacular Sculpture "Ammolite 2017"

Art plays an important role at Europa-Park. The American artist Mary Ann Toots Zynsky has created a spectacular eye-catching sculpture especially for the fine dining restaurant “Ammolite – the Lighthouse Restaurant”. The three-part piece entitled “Ammolite 2017” is made of wafer thin glass threads and was inspired by the architecture of the two Michelinstar restaurant. More than 225 kilometres of fine glass threads were melted together to create this unique sculpture. Toots Zynsky is an internationally renowned artist who lives and works in Boston. Her works are exhibited in museums all over the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York- Hillary Clinton and Elton John also own works by Toots. Looking at the sculpture, “Ammolite” guests can discover delicacy, movement, brilliance, depth, transparency...

www.ammolite.de

A Conversation with Mary Ann Toots Zynsky

Interviewer: How did the concept for the artwork in the Ammolite restaurant come about?
Toots Zynsky: The elaborate, perfectly designed colour scheme and the name of the Ammolite restaurant were both wonderful sources of inspiration for me.
Interviewer: What was the idea behind the pieces’ unusual shape?
Toots Zynsky: When I first heard the name of the restaurant from my German gallery owner, who exhibits my work in Baden-Baden,
I began to study ammolite petrification and its spiral form – and I found it truly fascinating.
Interviewer: Are there already works that take this form, or is it a completely new design direction for you?
Toots Zynsky: The commission for the Ammolite was something completely new for me and a great challenge in terms of form and scale. I used finely fused threads of glass, which I then melted down in the kiln to create the sculpture. This work of art has found an outstanding place in the first-class restaurant. It was a genuinely unique project.
Interviewer: How are the fused glass filaments created?
Toots Zynsky: The exact method has a 30-year history, but a short and sweet explanation is that it’s a result of my extensive experience
with glass. Glass blowing, lowering, furnace forming - that‘s how it was done in the early years, then I took a break from this method for six years. When I started anew, I recapitulated every thing I had learned in my mind and the information appeared to me anew in new patterns. I started to work in a new way and stayed with it – developing my method. I was fascinated with experimentingand solving the problems I encountered. I wanted to, and had to solve it, because I had many ideas that I wanted to implement. Technology and technical problems are only ever a means to an end. Over the years, I have developed a device that allows me to draw fine glass filaments. Then I combine the different coloured threads which are folded flat and fused at a temperature of about 400 degrees. The glass filaments don’t fuse completely, and retain some of their structure. Only then, when I move on to the more complex steps involved in developing the form and it’s folds, can the actual shape start to be seen .

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Interviewer: Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Toots Zynsky: Everywhere. But I have always loved making music and dancing. In fact, it was my love of dance that led me to glass blowing. In the glass studio, I was constantly in motion, just like the other people who were constantly walking around - all this seemed to me like an improvised choreography. Music for me is colour, mood, heart and soul - and everything else besides. I‘m always listening out for music that I haven’t yet had the pleasure of hearing.
Interviewer: You’ve lived in both Paris and Amsterdam for a long time and have worked on both sides of the Atlantic. You seem to like to travel?
Toots Zynsky: Changes of environment have always inspired me - different air, a different language, different cultures. Moving from one job to the next, and being allowed to be remote and difficult to reach provides me with freedom. I am particularly fond of Holland – where I cycle everywhere and always feel like a child again. I work more easily in places where there’s lots of fresh air - it makes me feel good.

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Interviewer: And what influence does Venice have on you?
Toots Zynsky: Venice is an eternal miracle. I‘ve been there countless times and over and over again I succumb to its magic, always discovering something new and extraordinary.
Interviewer: What are your next big exhibition projects?
Toots Zynsky: Over the past few years I’ve had an intense exhibition plan. As an artist, it’s great, but it‘s also very strenuous. With every exhibition, I try to rethink myself, to reinvent myself and to create new forms. My next exhibitions will be in Toronto and New York - and then in 2018/2019 also in Baden-Baden.
Interviewer: You love fine dining, what do you like best about European cuisine?
Toots Zynsky: I love every kind of food! I’ve lived on three continents, and also travelled extensively through five continents, and local and regional food has always played a very important role in my travels. The cuisine in southwest of Germany – the Baden region and the Black Forest are wonderfully unique. I always like to come here - especially during the asparagus season. The cuisine here is simply exquisite and always with many new culinary highlights to discover and enjoy.
Interviewer: What do you like to cook yourself, do you have a favourite dish?
Toots Zynsky: Cooking is my passion of mine and I’ve learnt a lot about various regions of the world, particularly Italy, Indonesia, France, Spain, Ghana, Japan, China, India and the Middle East, through their respective cuisine. I can also cook one or two Badisch dishes quite well, so I often enjoy the classic Kratzete - white asparagus with wild garlic butter and crepes, which at first I didn’t think I would like. As for my favourite dish, without a doubt its Indonesian Rijstafel, which I mainly cook for special occasions as it‘s a three-day cooking marathon!