Watch the light dance on a brilliant steel sculpture on Sluseholmen
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The giant steel sculpture was hoisted down through a skylight, which it could just barely fit through, to take its place by the escalators at the new metro station.
The giant steel sculpture immediately catches your eye when you step down the stairs of the Sluseholmen metro station.
The eight metre long sculpture hangs from the ceiling above the escalators and lets its multifaceted surface cast light around the station.
‘The work is made for those who use the Metro every day. I've given a lot of thought to the fact that it has to be able to withstand looking at it every single day. There must be something you can discover,’
says visual artist René Schmidt, who is behind the artwork.
The sculpture is composed of 18 different parts that are welded together and the piece is called ‘Siphonophore Geometry’ - inspired by gelatinous sea creatures such as jellyfish, jellyfish and other molluscs that live in the water at Sluseholmen.
The sea and jellyfish theme continues when you get down to the platform, where René Schmidt has created another huge work of art: the concrete relief ‘Diatom Crystal’.
The Danish Arts Foundation has selected the five artists who have created the art for the five metro stations. The artworks were created for each station, but have a common theme that reflects on time and space, geology and water. The project has received financial support from the Obel Family Foundation, the Villum Foundation and the Danish Arts Foundation.
Cast on site
The large concrete beam is integrated into the station's architectural concrete structure with fossils of marine molluscs moulded into it.
‘I like the flaws that are there. I want you to be able to see that this beam has been floating. All the geometry comes from algae, microorganisms and minerals. The building blocks that are right out here in the water,’ explains the artist.
René Schmidt is known for his 3D-modelled works and has previously created public decorations for the Department of Sports and Biomechanics at SDU, Amager Fælled School and Frederiksberg District Court, among others. These are works for places where we are and move around - as is the case with the metro station.
‘It's a dream assignment as an artist to get out into society and help turn an anonymous space where people are supposed to just blow through into something more,’ he says.
Experiences with the Metro
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