Visiting castle Solitude in Stuttgart-West is a treat. Most people come here to admire the fine Rococo architecture or go for a walk in the forest. But right next to the castle lies a hidden secret not many people know about: Micha Ullmans New Moon…

Micha Ullman is an Israeli artist and was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart between 1991 and 2005. While he lived in Stuttgart, he created several artworks, three of them are known (or better, not know to many people :-)) as Minimente. And one Miniment is New Moon in front of castle Solitude.

The name Miniment is perfectly chosen for those artworks. They are not monuments, standing somewhere tall in the landscape, screaming “look at me” at everyone close by. Ullmans Minimente are tiny and even if you know where they are supposed to be, you need to look really hard to find them (friends of mine gave up after looking for them for ten minutes and even I had to ask in the museum shop if someone can show me the New Moon 🙂 ). But that is part of their fascination! 🙂 When you have found them finally you feel like a member of a secret club!

But what is the New Moon you might ask now. It consists of 29 little holes in the floor. They look the differnt shapes of the moon – from full moon to crescent moon. The tiny moons are arranged in a circle of nearly 16 meters in radius and represent the circle of the moon. When the sun moves over castle Solitude and the New Moon, the walls of the 29 moon shaped holes throw tiny shadows. So the artwork changes every day and every minute with the change of the light and the seasons.