«Left Defender Right Leg» is the amputated leg of a socker player, which Jochem Hendricks let «transform» by two former Sovjet institutes. In a first step the leg was converted to carbon and then to absolute pure graphite. In the other institute this graphite was then used to produce a synthetic diamond which stayed raw as grown and unpolished.
The research—carried out on site or from the studio in Frankfurt—turned out to be difficult and adventureous for the artist. An official cooperation was impossible. Parallel to his research Hendricks had bought through intermediaries an amputated leg in a hospital in the East. The donor had before agreed in writing that his leg will be transformed into an art work. Hendricks was partially on location during the work process, but also relied on partners who took care of the realisation and also protected him during his stays. Precaution is advisable in those countries.