For a long time, the artist had envisioned an installation around this physical experimental setup. Here in Münster, he finally found the suitable place for it. Since the summer of 2018, one can now watch Gerhard Richter's pendulum swing. And soon, one will probably notice that the 48-kilogram ball does not swing perfectly straight, but slightly shifts its direction. However, appearances are deceiving: it does not deviate from its path. Only the Earth is rotating.
It takes over thirty hours for the Münster pendulum to complete its circuit. What the physicist Léon Foucault discovered in 1851 is revealed in Richter's artistic adaptation, flanked by gray double mirrors that also provide the title of the artwork: "Two Gray Double Mirrors for a Pendulum". Mounted on two opposite walls, the mirrored discs not only reflect the pendulum but also the people around – back and forth, back and forth. Thus, there are infinitely many.
It doesn't take much to see a successful interplay of art, physics, and religion in the installation. What does he want to convey with it? Almost taken aback seemed Richter at this question on the day of the inauguration: "I wanted to deliver a good, attractive piece that provides comfort and joy.
