for five months, one night he had to conclude that the model made out of plaster simply did not work - it wasn�t stiff in the desired way, but too "natural" - which left no other options than breaking it to pieces with an axe, and starting all over again�

The Goddess of victory, "Nike", is impressive in its bronze, despite the degenerated arms that was withered away all the way up to the shoulders. The pubic hair consists of dwarf-like stick men. Einstein's theory of relativity has been etched into the badly burnt face: energy equals the mass times the speed of light to the power of two (e=mc2). A reminder of the fact that in a nuclear war there are no victories or winners - no arms nor understanding. The mythical "Narcissus" does no longer admire his reflection in a well, but in a television. Nor is he beginning to transform into a flower, but into a machine.

The bronze "Prometheus", created in the mid-eighties, is hanging from hooks between heaven and Earth, without hands or feet, like at the butcher's, his stomach ripped open as told by the ancient mythology (an eagle ripped Prometheus' liver off him again and again as a punishment for him stealing the fire from the Gods). Perhaps the modern vultures are alcohol, medicines, drugs and other chemical bombardment we inflict upon ourselves. In the sculpture we have openly in front of us the modern angst and institutional as well as individual violence. Yet surprisingly, out of the stomach grows the promise of a tree, like the dawn of tomorrow, a sign of immortal hope and continuity of life.

Will our grip of the world hold, will the sensitive contact with nature last, is the completeness of our self in danger to disintegrate? It feels like our throats are holding down the silent scream for our threatened identities.

Modern Times in the Mirror of Myths

Bronze is by far the most superior material for the both size- and expression-wise monumental sculptures by Mr. Weckstrom, created in the 1980's and 1990's. They reflect the problems and crises of modern technology and societal processes in the light of ancient myths - and not only reflect -they interpret our times profoundly, accurately, hurtfully. And that is not all: we have at our fingertips the realm of unknown possibilities. The degenerated palms of the "Minotaur" have been replaced by the extensions of some strange metallic machinery. Has the ancient myth of the monster, combining features of man and bull, transformed into a man-machine monster? In the open stomach one can see mechanical intestines. Even the penis is a mechanical performer, a wrench. The sculpture opens perspectives into the worlds of biotechnology and gene manipulation; the stiff posture of the robot and his hollow features scare, but there is also a ray of hope -even if the machine works badly, it can be improved...

The exhausting ethical wrestle of creating is best described in Mr. Weckstrom's tale of the birth of the "Minotaur": after intensively working