Three questions for: Marion Abate

What connects you with Beethoven's life and work - or not?

"Art arises where resistance becomes not the end, but the beginning." I am connected to Beethoven by this uncompromising creative drive - continuing despite internal and external fractures. His increasing deafness and yet his 'inner hearing' touch me deeply.

I also know the struggle with material, technique, and failure - especially in ceramic 3D printing, when forms collapse or processes break off. It is often there that the decisive emerges. What separates us is perhaps the medium: He composed sound, I shape space. But in both cases, it's about rhythm, structure, and density - about composition, whether in time or space.

If Beethoven were sitting opposite you: What questions would you ask?

"How does an idea sound before it takes shape?" I would ask him how he composed when he could barely hear. What inner images guided him.

In my work, sculptures also arise digitally before they become material - I work with virtual models, layering, translation into clay or polymer. I would want to know: Did he have inner spaces? Architectures of sound? And: How much courage does it take to work radically against expectations?

How does Beethoven influence you and us today?

"Freedom is a decision - also in art." Beethoven showed that art can be an attitude. That it may formulate social vision. This autonomy shapes me - both in the studio and in my teaching. I encourage young people to develop their own standards and to use technology not only functionally, but aesthetically. Beethoven was innovation in the 19th century.

Today we work with 3D printing and AI – but the question remains the same: How do we create something that transcends us?