The Zollverein coal mine in Essen has been inspiring me for years. Again and again I stop by here. For someone like me, who is not familiar with coking plants and steel works, the rusty structures represent abstract artistic forms that seem to be just waiting to be staged.

Perhaps it is so fascinating here precisely because I do not know what purpose all the structures once had. A huge generator (or a motor? A something in which something is probably spinning...) and an oversized hook in a hall. What was that for?

What concept is behind all the interwined pipes? Maybe at some point it is no longer certain whether this was created by artists or technicians.