Stairs typically serve the simple purpose of providing a path of elevation for people looking to go from one level to another, but Beautiful Steps is an ongoing series of sculptural steps that lead nowhere, playing with form and function. Simple in color and geometry, each set of stairs by art studio Lang Baumann is placed in a unique setting. Whether they are suspended from above or leading straight out a window, the “functional” element is withdrawn from the structures.
Ultimately, by taking the steps out of context, it forces spectators to view the space the piece encompasses and the raw, simple beauty of the ordinary structures we so often come across in our daily lives. Rather than walking all over them, viewers are able to admire the staircases from afar as they abstractly fill and transform their respective spaces. At times, they even seem to add an element of elegant motion, dancing in mid-air.
