GETRAG Ford Transmissions
“take part in art“© with 45 international managers of GETRAG-Ford Transmissions
“change the rules“
A strategy meeting with 45 GETRAG-Ford Transmissions senior managers was titled “change the rules“. Their discussion of themes relevant to the company included a “take part in art“© workshop.
The workshop concept focussed on the creation of two art-works – five large-sized drawings to be exhibited at Ford sites in Cologne, Bordeaux, Halewood, Gothenburg and Kechnec; and a sculpture for the reception hall in Cologne. For the drawings I used a technical transmission drawing which I enlarged and copied on the canvasses. For the sculpture I prepared a steel tower, a LED light module and 40 plates of glass á 50 × 40 × 1 cm.
To mark a break between internal discussions and the “take part in art“© workshop, a master of martial arts and friend of mine started with a Yangshen pushing exercise for participants (part 1).
I then continued with the canvasses laid out on tables. Similar to a circle-training, participants were asked to move from one drawing to the next, tracing the technical drawings with thick pencil lines – fast and without hesitation. Doing this was a challenge for most partcipants since in their day-to-day work they research and develop transmissions with utmost precision. At the same time, however, they were able to see how their tracing energetically charged the original, precise drawings until these finally became works of art. The process took approximately one and a half hours (part 2).
This first and rather active part of the workshop was followed by a second, reflective one. Participants now took one of the plates of glass, found themselves a place in either the seminar room or the studio and worked alone for an hour. They were asked to express their thoughts on the discussion of that morning as well as general ideas, visions and hopes concerning their work and the company in words and drawings on the plates of glass.
All of these have been put into the steel tower together with the LED light module. The sculpture is a beautiful, compact compendíum of participants‘ ideas and thoughts (part 3-4).
Four canvasses created during the workshop are now in Bordeaux, Halewood, Gothenburg and Kechnec. The fifth framed drawing “ARTmission“ and the sculpture “shining future“ are exhibited in the reception area of GETRAG-Ford in Cologne and continue to have an inspiring effect on both employees and visitors.