Artwork Data

Title

Interconnected Sculpture

Artist

Abraham David Christian

Year

2003

Artwork Location

Address

Circusplein, Den Haag

City district

Scheveningen

GPS data

52.110940959987, 4.283541405592 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

If you look closely, you can count six circles. Yet there are only four supports on the pedestal. The other two circles are suspended in the air. They do not touch the ground, but float between the larger circles, thus establishing mutual connections. That explains the title 'Interconnected Sculpture'. German sculptor Abraham David Christian has turned the spiral object into an adventurous rollercoaster-like construction whose course is unpredictable. The circles describe a track that is almost impossible to follow.

Almost as inimitable as the line pattern of 'Interconnected Sculpture' are the artist's sources of inspiration. For his geometric and organic bronze sculptures and paper objects, Christian keeps a complex and multiform frame of reference in view. He combines the spirit of the Renaissance (Donatello and Michelangelo) with abstraction and the views of more modern sculptors such as Giacometti and Brancusi. In addition, Christian's work is influenced by religious objects from (primitive) cultures from Africa, India and Japan.

The symbolism of 'Interconnected Sculpture' is clear: the artist, who began his career in 1972 as a 19-year-old by participating in Documenta 5, wants to bring together totally different worlds and spheres of influence. Each circle symbolises a separate cultural area, a primal source. Through stories, trade routes, traditions and imitations, these primal sources are connected in many ways. In his work, Christian is constantly looking for new forms of spirituality and symbolism. This search appealed so strongly to Joop and Janine van den Ende that they bought the sculpture from him to give Circusplein extra allure.

 

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