Black Gold

The equestrian statue of Elector Frederick William I is submerged in a mountain of ground car tire granules.Rubber, known as black gold at the beginning of the 20th century, was one of the resources whose exploitation has left an irreversible mark in both the Congo and the Amazon region. This raw material was crucial for the development of the automotive industry and, although the exploitation of this plant no longer seems to be linked to the outrages and slavery of the past, it is undoubtedly part of a production chain whose environmental impact is undeniable. The mountains of tires that grow year after year are the legacy of an industry that, like other similar extractive industries, leaves behind a devastated, eroded and dead territory. An economic system based on the extraction of natural resources and the exploitation of labor under inhumane conditions has its roots in practices closely linked to the history that this monument celebrates in the middle of the courtyard.