Stephan Guber's “The Promise” was written on site within eight weeks in 2010. The sculptor worked with the chainsaw on all the wooden sculptures at the same time in order not to construct, but to develop the figures and their relationships in space with one another in a process. Guber deliberately avoided designing details and left a lot in the vague. The larger-than-life figures are given a garment through numerous notched, vertical cuts that envelops the body in multilayered folds and makes it appear block-like. The headgear is reminiscent of historical clothing, myths or foreign cultures. These elements and the only hinted facial features give each individual figure its own character. In their withdrawn and sometimes contemplative expression, the seven human figures develop a quiet and enigmatic presence. Your viewing directions cannot always be precisely determined. Sometimes they seem to direct their gaze into the distance outside the circle, at the same time they perceive the egg object in the center of the circle. The figures communicate with one another not through their gestures and facial expressions, but through their postures, head rotations and positions in space. The viewer can enter into this communication field.
The title “The Promise” refers to an announcement made in the past. The group of figures, reminiscent of a gathering of dignitaries, embodies the present. The future is indicated in the development of the egg-object, that the fulfillment of the promise promises. None of the figures shows a curious, impatient waiting. Rather, their expectation is determined by caution and restraint and perhaps also by perplexity. An exchange of ideas about the nature and possibilities that are hidden in the oversized egg seems to be developing in the room.