For Melanchotopia, Olivier Foulon dives into Rotterdam’s history of public art commissions. His contribution to the exhibition involves an interpretation of the history of Ring, a work by German artist Isa Genzken commissioned by Commissie Beelden in de stad [Commission Sculptures in the city] in 1988. Genzken intended to install a monumental ring sculpture, made of steel, in the city center of Rotterdam. The ring would have been installed at an angle, leaning on two buildings seperated by a street (the Mauritsplaats). Although production had started, the sculpture was never completed, allegedly because some inhabitants of the concerned buildings believed that the sound of the wind blowing through the empty ring would be too disturbing. Genzken’s sculpture was thus abandoned and discarded in parts.