Entrance with invitation: Colorful journey through the history of the earth

25 June 2021

Pterosaurs in street art look, striking lizards and finely sketched water creatures. A colorful variety of prehistoric animals recently adorned the upper of the two floors of the Geological-Paleontological Museum. Students from the University of Europe for Applied Science (UE) have illustrated the geological eras in a mural, venturing a ride through various artistic styles. The Geological-Paleontological Museum reopens to the public in August.

"Our goal was to also integrate the museum's large wall areas into the exhibition," explains Ulrich Kotthoff, director of the Geological-Paleontological Museum. A mural on the history of the earth will visually complement the newly designed exhibition area. In this part of the museum, paleontologists illustrate current research topics on the development of life, climate and the earth. Kotthoff is extremely pleased with the result: "This is very successful and a super achievement by the students."

Both sides have benefited from the cooperation: together with the students, Kotthoff, a paleontologist, has reflected on which animals are suitable for display. They considered how the enormously long time span - from the formation of the earth to almost the present - could be told within a manageable mural without creating misunderstandings. The specialist, who is interested in detail, allowed himself to be drawn into the students' point of view and impulses, showing courage to take a step back: "When reconstructing extinct animals, there is inevitably an element of fantasy. And I think it's good that various artistic aspects have come into play," says Kotthoff. "After all, with the mural we primarily want to make visitors curious about the exhibition and the research content - it's meant as an invitation."

"The room now offers a visual introduction to the wonders of evolution," says Christian Meyer zu Ermgassen, professor of illustration at UE, describing the effect of the wall decoration. "The image triggers questions of content in the viewer. The students as a group are also fully engaged in the design process via image development." After a crash course on paleontology, the five illustration students - under corona conditions - developed their renderings in a variety of styles: In addition to classic scientific-style drawings, street art methods were used: paint rollers, spray techniques and stencils. "All students were able to contribute their style. As a result, the impression is wild - but the unified perspective from the water to the land and into the air ultimately brings all the elements together," summarizes Meyer zu Ermgassen.

It's a flow of time, beginning in black and white and ending in garish color. Small creatures can be seen in close-up and sometimes tower over enormous prehistoric giants. "For the implementation in the museum, we had little time because of the Corona restrictions and had to consider how and what we wanted to tell and which points were skipped, " Meyer von Ermgassen continues. "For us, this was a successful project."