Interfaces connect digital systems with each other or with the non-digital world. Only by means of interfaces is information technology applicable in principle, and has a use and lends meaning. Therefore the interface stands for the pragmatic dimension of information technology.

The interface also has a metaphorical significance. Every act of communication forms an interface. In this sense, the School for Information Technology of the Bundeswehr is one big interface. Thus the expression “interface” becomes a message.

The message Schnittstelle/Interface is realised in the form of an artistic object that possesses two levels: of sculpture and of drawing. The drawing level conveys the function of describing, the sculptural level the function of experiencing.

On the drawing level, the message becomes apparent. Two arrowheads – based on the diode symbol – meet at a place that is made visible by a striking vertical and that gives precision to the interface. The formal vocabulary of pixel cubes additionally signifies the world of IT.

On the sculptural level, an experience of form and colours is conveyed that serves the ends of identification and motivation. The building with its non-hierarchical structure gains a feature, and the people who come into contact with the building find a point of connection. The sculptural nature of the object gives a tactile quality to the immaterial world of IT. Its painterly nature, arising from colour impulses, lends a dynamic, in the sense of a perpetuum mobile, to its perception. Through its cube structure, the object responds to the rectangular principle of the architecture.

The object consists of a supporting framework, onto which colour sheets of Plexiglass are attached. The individual pixel cube as a grid unit measures 50 x 50 x 50 cm. The length of the two arms is equal to 16 cube units or 8 metres. The height of the object also measures 16 cube units, or 8 metres. In this way the object as a whole is inscribed within an imaginary cube. The object is anchored to the ground at three points by a foundation.