A worthy gift in celebration of 400 years.
Devil Whirls, a sculpture by New York-based artist Alice Aycock, will be on site in conjunction with the 400-year anniversary of the city of Borås on June 29. The sculpture calls to mind nature, the movement of the wind, and the dynamic playfulness of dance.
There are many ways to build a city: it can be designed as a knowledge center with universities and colleges, a cluster of know-how within a specific industry. It can incorporate exciting architecture that is both inclusive and welcoming. It can embrace the desire to create an environment that residents enjoy and in which they feel they can grow, where schools and health care are accessible to all. Or, as is the case with the gift for our 400-year-old city: it can be furnished with public art, which strengthens the city’s self-confidence.
Because that is indeed what public art does: it brings a sense of weightiness to a city, and puts it on the map. Just look at what the Guggenheim Museum did for the industrial city of Bilbao. Ever since it opened, Bilbao has enjoyed a constant stream of new visitors. Visitors who are there not first and foremost to see the city’s iron and steel industry, but to enjoy the art and the world-renowned architecture of the Guggenheim. The building is otherwise clad in titanium plates, so yes – even today’s visitors seem to have some degree of interest in metal!
Something has happened here in Borås since the first Sculpture Biennial opened in 2008. Perhaps we have become more used to seeing art around us, as we hurry across Stora Torget or pass by the university. On every other building, we have the opportunity to enjoy street art by world-class artists, imagery that makes these public spaces one big outdoor gallery. Art is accessible to all.
The city’s self-confidence grows. One thing leads to the next: knowledge attracts companies, companies attract people. People are attracted by culture and culture generates creativity, while creativity leads to companies. We could keep going on this way – what we are trying to say is that this is how we contribute to a stronger, bolder Borås; it is our way of contributing to the construction of a city that is taking enormous strides into the future.
Happy birthday and congratulations, Borås – here is to the next 400 years!
Devil Whirls is a donation from Joakim Hedin, Paul Frankenius and Sparbanksstiftelsen Sjuhärad.
Alice Aycock, born 1946, lives and works in New York. As a recent graduate and young artist, she began working with land art. In this overwhelmingly male-dominated genre, she garnered early recognition and is considered a female pioneer in sculpture. In 2018, she was the recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture.
Photo: Johan Lindskog
Alice Aycock considers the placement of the work to be important: nothing exists in a vacuum, so location must be carefully considered. What do the surroundings look like? Where are the viewers and how do they encounter the sculpture? Due to the travel restrictions on account of COVID-19, finding a location on-site in Borås was not possible. Instead, Aycock and her team studied maps and pictures of Borås from Google Earth for potential locations. In partnership with a project group in Borås, a decision was made to place the sculpture by Resecentrum.
Photo: Johan Lindskog
Devil Whirls is part of the Turbulence Series, in which Aycock attempts to represent wind, air movements and energy – extreme weather phenomena that can be perceived as frightening and uncontrollable, and simultaneously fascinating. Of the sculptures in the series, Devil Whirls is the most playful. In addition to exploring wind and tornados, the construction of the sculpture is reminiscent of the dynamics and joy of dance.
Photo: Johan Lindskog
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