Principle of Hope, ten

Exhibited

Frieze London, 2019.

Principle of Hope takes its aesthetic inspiration from a public sculpture by swiss architect and designer Max Bill, titled Endlose Treppe (Endless Steps, 1991) situated in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The sculpture, comprising 19 winding steps of granite at nearly 10 metres, represents Ernst Bloch’s philosophy, the “principle of hope.” The sky-blue painted walls heighten this sense of freedom as the spiral painting evolves upwards towards a yet undiscovered utopia in the background in suburban Johannesburg. Offering the work to performance collaborators allows me to shift the owner- ship of the artwork from one of exclusivity to one of communal inclusivity and connection. - Robin Rhode

quoted in Kate Simpson and Robin Rhode (no date) Aesthetica, Spatial Recalibration, online, accessed 4 August 2026.