NO HAYO NADA DE VALOR

The Madrid-based artist Ampparito has chosen the roof of the Möllerhalle as the setting to display his message spectacularly in large letters. It can best be viewed from the viewing platform at the Völklinger Hütte World Heritage Site. “NO HAY NADA DE VALOR”, which roughly translates as “There is nothing of value here”, is what car owners in Spain write on pieces of paper which they place in plain view inside their parked vehicles. Ampparito plays with this statement, which is intended to deter theft, and is fascinated by the reversal of social conventions: Instead of publicly portraying oneself and one’s possessions as greater or more valuable than they actually are, the opposite is deliberately asserted here. Through the monumental enlargement on the roof of the burden shed, the statement opens up a wealth of associations – not least because it takes on an ironic undertone in the context of the World Heritage status, which designates the Völklinger Hütte as a treasure of human history. Furthermore: were not the very valuable ores, on which pig iron production largely depended, once stored in the burden shed? Did the price of scrap metal not fall following the closure of the works, making demolition unprofitable for its owners?