”Jeg laver store skulpturer af flere tons ler.
Jeg bygger og brænder dem på stedet, så de står glødende foran publikum.
Det er både skulptur og performance med en relation til stedet og begivenheden.
Skulpturerne er ikke lavet for evigheden, men står en tid efter, afhængig af bl.a. vejret”
Når skulpturen gløder gør den øjeblikket tydeligt og hele projektet sætter tiden og den stadige forandring i fokus. Den glødende skulptur som fascinerer og sommetider tiltrækker tusinder, varer meget kort og skulpturen går til på et ukendt tidspunkt. Men oplevelsen består.
Et projekt kunne f. eks markere begyndelsen på et nyt byggeri, eller byrum blot for at nævne et eksempel. Det er meget forskellige projekter både i anledninger og omfang. De kan være både små og kæmpestore.
About me
I started as a ceramic artist in 1965 in various workshops in Europe and Canada including a period by Bernard Leach. I was for many years doing handmade, mostly thrown pottery. At a certain point I felt a need for a more extensive expression and in I 1994 made my first firingsculpture for an art museum in Denmark
I have till now made 19 very different works in Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Australia and Iceland. My work has developed out of a lifelong ceramic praxis, my projects take departure in the worlds realities, and I find inspiration in the variations in world. In every new work I am pushing and developing this expression.
My firingsculptures:
They are built in 1-3 weeks in a continuous process. The climax is when the sculpture, wrapped in insulation, becomes its own kiln and fires to 1000-1200 centigrade. At this stage the insulation is taken away and for short intense moments the sculpture is glowing with celestial beauty.
The sculpture is made out of many transparent walls one behind the other and with openings of different kinds in order to offer simultaneous views of the white glowing interior and the cooler and less glowing darker outside. The idea is to show the inside of things, to make visible what normally is hidden – When the sculpture is glowing the inside is the most luminous and unusual coherences can be perceived. The choices of the shape aimed for, the method of building and the execution of the firing are made out of consideration for the view of the glowing sculpture.
My firingsculpture give resonance to the environment, celebration and other direct reason for the project and is a play about time and change. When the sculpture is glowing you feel the instant and the entire project from the first step on the bare ground until its complete erosion puts focus on time and the impossible task of stopping everything’s perpetual change.
Resume from the book "GLØDENDE LER, BRÆNDINGSSKULPTURER AF JØRGEN HANSEN" (Glowing Clay, Firingsculptures by Jørgen Hansen) Text by Lisbeth Bonde
Up to the present time, Jørgen Hansen has created eleven distinctive firingsculptures, which have been erected in many sites around the world. With these sculptures, he has moved from the practical arts into the realm of fine arts. The sculptures are made of clay and they are built up in the course of a few weeks by a team supervised by Jørgen Hansen. Each of the sculptures has its very own idea and occupies its very own special place. Each is constructed on the basis of an ingenious modular system. And in each instance, certain special modules that are appropriate to the sculpture’s specific form are created.
Generally speaking, Jørgen Hansen intentionally veers away, to some extent, from perfection and prefers to supply the sculpture with a certain touch of incompleteness. In this way, there is a reference to the process and the sculpture is endowed with a ruin-like appearance. The sculpture entitled “Verwandlungskreis”, erected in 2002 near what was once the Berlin Wall, nonetheless deviates from this principle, since in this case, Jørgen Hansen has aimed at creating a regular circle. In this circular-shaped firingsculpture, he allowed the glowing clay inside the volume to constitute the sculpture’s actual focus. By and large, Jørgen Hansen is becoming increasingly more interested in the sculpture’s interior, and the glowing clay is playing a part that becomes more and more important in his work. Firingsculptures affect the viewer in a purely visceral way on account of the high temperatures involved. This magnitude can simply not be discounted. This is neither an illusion nor an image, but a real physical thing which attains extremely high temperatures.
Something extraordinary happens when the clay and the conflagration encounter one another. But the actual process of metamorphosis is rather short-lived. Jørgen Hansen is making use of the glowing clay in order to call our attention to the fact that time is on the move: the glowing clay refers to the transformation that is taking place. The external form, however, is necessary so that this meeting can occur, but there is much to suggest that in the future, Jørgen Hansen will be generating simpler cubic forms.
In viewing the firingsculptures, the public comes to play witness to a process that normally occurs within a closed system, namely inside the ceramic oven, where the porous and stiffened clay is transformed into something hard and everlasting. The firingsculptures are fired in the open air; the process is laid bare as a spectacular and fascinating sight, which transpires in the course of less than twenty-four hours. The sculpture is packed in insulating fiber material, so that the temperature will rise. As the process unfolds, Jørgen Hansen and his assistants ‘feed’ the sculpture with firewood. This must be done in a careful and cautious manner in order to avoid having the clay rupture and accordingly to avoid having the sculpture fall apart.
The firingsculptures are both conceived and executed on a grand scale – also with respect to the choice of material, since they manage with their huge volumes to fill quite a considerable place and can weigh many tons. What is also characteristic of these works is that they are site-specific in much the manner of other three-dimensional works in recent art history, which means to say that they have been created for a specifically chosen spot and that they enter into dialogue with this place’s particular cultural history and architecture. They can constitute a passage and function as a connecting link between two historic epochs, as exemplified by “Rejsen” [The Journey] in Fredericia, which conjoined a modern residential neighborhood with the city’s original center. In the year 1690, King Fredrik III established the city as a garrison town. A similar connecting passage can be observed in the 1998 sculpture entitled “Det hvisker fra skoven” [There is a Whisper from the Woods], which conjoined a modern café on the outskirts of Stockholm with the uncultivated forest.
Same in Danish:
Lisbeth Bonde:
( fra Glødende Ler, Brændingsskulpturer af Jørgen Hansen, Skippershoved 1993, ISBN 8789224701 )
”Jørgen Hansens brændingsskulpturer er inciterende udsagn om jorden og ilden, om nuet og evigheden. De fødes af mørket og forsvinder langsomt i takt med dagens komme. Efter en lang og møjsommelig opbygningsfase bliver lerkroppene antændt og brænder som vulkaner, svangre med ild, der går over i gløder. Til sidst fader de ud, bliver til en ting, et offer for vejrliget og menneskers rastløse handlinger for til sidst at forvitre og forsvinde. Det er poesi i tre dimensioner, en grandios gestus, stort tænkt og stort gennemført med den stædige insisteren, som er kendetegnende for en kunstner. Det er utopisk, ubrugeligt, rituelt og dragende ”
Resumé
Jørgen Hansen har foreløbig skabt 11 karakteristiske brændingsskulpturer, der er opført rundt om i verden. Med brændingsskulpturerne har han bevæget sig fra nyttekunsten over i billedkunsten. Skulpturerne er skabt af ler, og de bygges op i løbet af nogle uger af et team, som ledes af Jørgen Hansen. Hver skulptur har sin idé og sit særlige sted. Den bygges op af et sindrigt modulsystem. For hver gang skabes nogle særlige moduler, der passer til skulpturens specifikke form.
Generelt firer Jørgen Hansen bevidst lidt på perfektionen undervejs og tilfører skulpturen en vis uafsluttethed. Hermed refereres til processen, og skulpturen forlenes med en ruinagtig fremtoning. Skulpturen ”Verwandlungskreis”, opført ved den tidligere Mur i Berlin i 2002, afviger dog fra dette princip, idet Jørgen Hansen her tilstræbte en regelmæssig cirkel. I den cirkelformede brændingsskulptur lod han gløderne indeni udgøre skulpturens egentlige fokus. I det hele taget er Jørgen Hansen i stigende grad optaget af skulpturens indvendige, og gløden spiller en stadig vigtigere rolle. Brændingsskulpturen påvirker betragteren rent kropsligt p.g.a. de høje temperaturer. Den kan så at sige ikke fornægtes. Den er ikke en illusion eller et billede, men en reel, fysisk ting, der når op på meget høje temperaturer.
Der sker noget ganske særligt, når leret og ilden mødes, og selve forvandlingsprocessen er ganske kort. Jørgen Hansen bruger gløden til at vise, at tiden går, og gløden henviser til den forvandling, der finder sted. Den ydre form er dog nødvendig for at dette møde kan finde sted, men noget tyder på, at Jørgen Hansen i fremtiden vil udvikle mere enkle, kubiske former.
Med brændingsskulpturerne bliver publikum vidne til en proces, der normalt foregår i et lukket system, nemlig i keramikovnen, hvor det porøse, stivnede ler transformeres til noget hårdt og tidsbestandigt. Brændingsskulpturerne brændes i det fri, og processen lægges blot som et spektakulært og fascinerende skue, der finder sted over et lille døgns tid. Skulpturen pakkes ind i rockwool for at få temperaturen til at stige. Undervejs fodrer Jørgen Hansen og hans hjælpere skulpturen med brænde. Der skal doceres nænsomt for at undgå, at leret sprænger, og skulpturen falder fra hinanden.
Brændingsskulpturerne er både stort tænkt og stort udført – også rent materialemæssigt, idet de volumenmæssigt fylder en ret stor plads ud, og de kan veje mange ton. Kendetegnende for dem er ligeledes, at de er site-specific eller stedsspecifikke, ligesom andre tredimensionale værker i nyere kunsthistorie, dvs. de er skabt til et udvalgt sted, og de går i dialog med dette steds særlige kulturhistorie og arkitektur. De kan udgøre en passage og fungere som bindeled mellem to historiske epoker som fx ”Rejsen” i Fredericia, der forbandt et moderne beboelseskvarter
med det oprindelige centrum. Byen blev grundlagt i 1690 som fæstningsby af Fredrik III. En lignende forbindelsespassage kunne observeres i 1998 i skulpturen ”Det hvisker fra skoven”, der forbandt en moderne café i udkanten af Stockholm med den vilde skov.
Lisbeth Bonde er cand.mag., kunstkritiker og journalist
Lisbeth Bonde is an art critic and journalist. She holds a Master of Arts degree.
Translation into English by Dan Marmorstein - Lisbeth Bonde er cand.mag., kunstkritiker og journalist
”Glødende Ler, Brændingsskulpturer af Jørgen Hansen”
Forlaget Skippershoved 2003
ISBN 87-89224-70-1
Extrait du livre en Francais:
- --- Peux-tu nous parler de la sculpture "Verwandlungskreis" que tu as réalisée à Berlin en 2002 ? Pourquoi Berlin ?
« Je voulais faire une sculpture-spectacle qui parle des différentes identités de cette ville: ville totalement détruite, ville divisée par le Mur et surtout ville en pleine métamorphose. Berlin est encore une ville ouverte et accessible, mais d’ici très peu de temps tous les terrains vagues et toutes les traces du passé proche auront disparu. J’ai eu la chance de trouver un terrain à côté du siège du groupe de Presse Springer, près de Potsdamer Platz. L’endroit était, avant la venue de Hitler, l’ancien emplacement des grandes maisons d’édition allemandes et juives, donc le contexte historique était très lourd. Aujourd’hui, cet espace a un caractère de grand chantier, lourd du passé et ouvert à l'avenir. Mais en même temps, c’est un endroit où les gitans de passage viennent s'installer pour la nuit. Une végétation sauvage de sureaux et de verges d’or indique que le désordre de la nature y règne encore, pour un temps... »
Le fait de placer ta sculpture dans ce contexte évoque inévitablement le passé historique pour le spectateur.
« Tout à fait, d'un côté la Maison d'Édition Springer comme symbole du capitalisme et de la presse à sensation. Et tout près, l’ancien quartier juif ! Juste à l’endroit où nous édifions la sculpture, il y avait une petite route goudronnée qui traversait la place en diagonal. Un jour, une dame d’un certain âge est venue nous voir. Elle habitait dans les immeubles de l’autre côté de ce qui avait été le Mur, dans l’ancienne zone Est. Elle nous a dit que c’était merveilleux que nous ayons choisi de mettre la sculpture précisément là, à côte de cette route où, pendant des années, elle avait pu observer la gendarmerie de la DDR monter la garde avec leurs mitrailleuses. J’avais trouvé l'endroit tout à fait par hasard. Mais le hasard fait parfois bien les choses et contribue à créer du “sens”. Ca prend au moins deux semaines pour transformer 8 tonnes d’argile en sculpture avec une équipe de dix personnes comme la mienne. Le contraste entre la lenteur de mes travaux et l’extrême efficacité de deux autres chantiers, avec leurs échafaudages et leurs immenses grues, acquérait une valeur symbolique. Mon projet faisait ressortir un autre projet: celui de la mainmise du capitalisme sur la ville avec sa vision de l'avenir. »
Pourquoi est-ce si important pour toi de réaliser quelque chose d’aussi symbolique et de parfaitement inutile ?
« Je n’ai pas le choix, j’ai trouvé mon instrument, je dois en jouer. »
Sculptures of Jorgen Hansen
Vince McGrath reports on the ephemeral quality found in the sculptures of this Danish artist (CeramicsTECHNICAL No. 14 2002)
Day after day scores of people walk over en eight meter burnt shard-rich ground circle that refuses to strike new grass. The circle in the lawns of the University of Tasmania represents the last physical sign of a firing site. It also acts as a visual cue for remembering the dramatic moments of a 24-hour clay and fire performance piece carried out more than 18 months ago. The ruin hints at the ground space of the former object while its upward elevation has been taken from reality and can now only be imagined for what it might have been. Jorgen Hansen’s sculpture is inevitably transient because the object is constructed as the medium for exploring elusive ideas of change and evolution. Hansen sets aside the modernist tradition of the object representing a single truth for one that trawls a broad sweep of opinion as he journeys over borders and into the physical and subconscious spaces of the known and the unknown.
Jorgen Hansen lives and works in Hyllested, Denmark. He was originally trained and educated in the art of the potter and continues that practice today. A traditional studio background has meant that Hansen has been able to bring the work rhythms, techniques and sensibilities of the potter to the creation of large, multi-walled outdoor clay pieces. To some observers, Hansen’s practice or the traditional studio potter’s art is philosophically at odds with the conceptual and technical nature of large-scale impermanent performance/installation works. However it is precisely from this classical appreciation of ceramics that Hansen is so adroit at foregrounding the correspondences between idea and materiality, and the transformative role of fire as an agent of change and a key performer in the theatrical part of the event. More importantly though, Jorgen Hansen has re-examined the language of studio ceramics by bringing into sharp relief the choice between self-imposed formality and prescription, and a speculative engagement of the discipline’s symbols and practices with those of other art forms. It is here at the confluence of arts languages that Hansen also tells us that a wider, unifying and participatory encounter is possible.
Hansen believes the known is really the beginning of the unknown and that what we understand as the subconscious boundary of knowledge can be expressed in visual terms as a circle. This might suggest that Hansen positions his thinking solely on the current ‘outer circle’ or leading edge; however his practice continually references the inner circles, those holding the past, culture, community and memory. It seems to me that where Hansen critiques history in revisionist mode he is best able to pose questions, contemplate futures and energise our view of ourselves.
While Jorgen Hansen remains faithful to the great traditions of ceramics he intentionally seeks to make public and give full force to the process of making as equal and integral activity in the experience of the work. Hansen’s projects are team oriented, carefully planned and executed, drawing on the skills and creative abilities of many people. He quietly directs, encourages and praises co-artists throughout the weeklong cycle. Hansen is unequivocal in his desire to place the co-artist at the centre of the activity. This enabling process seeks out the latent abilities of the artist’s team, setting up the important synenergism between Hansen as director of the project and the co-artists. Positioning all members of the team in the ‘centre’ means that a delicate working balance has to be maintained between the intent of the director and the artists’ capacities and commitment to work within the project brief.
These ceramic sculptures are developed on a monumental scale and yet they exhibit none of the heroic qualities familiar in public art. They are not institutional or corporate in their stance, nor are they rigid didactic lessons in ancient history. It seems to me that while Jorgen Hansen’s sculptures are constructed within a narrative framework of interconnected linear events, they are much more to do with the real-time experience. The experiential nature of these works is bound up in a number of moments expressed within and immediately outside the physical presence of the object. These presences comprise the cycle of making and our perception of the object in time and space. Each presence is a comprehensive statement that can never be repeated in the same way. In doing this Hansen’s sculpture moves through a sequence of events (comings and goings) where there is intense construction activity, high levels of speculations and anticipations, displays of high drama and performance, as well as conditions of stillness and introspection. Throughout the sequence there is no one moment in the existence of the work that is more important than another. What is most important to Hansen is that the work generates a rich, continuously changing dialogue that stimulates ideas concerning history, impermanence, transformation and renewal.
Jorgen Hansen is interested in the ways ideas and reality is mediated through form. Clay is the material of the object and its non-permanent properties are chosen to represent change and decline. For him clay is also symbolic of the Alpha and Omega of existence and is both concrete and abstract. In the creative processes its material qualities can be remarkably fluid and yet stiff enough to hold form and surface in alignment while concepts are pursued.
The central actor in the theatre of the work is fire, the force for material change and the symbol of unpredictability. The firing is a spectacle, a public performance in the manner of an unscripted play that transforms the work and celebrates a new existence. The ground spaces upon which these sculptures emerge provide the stage where the relationship between nature, subject and object, and artist and observer take place. It is also the site that marks the beginning and the end of the project. Hansen nominates sites for sculptures on the basis of their natural history and human significance and the way the physical qualities of an environment are able to complement the intent of the project.
After the Cowboys was produced at the University of Tasmania in Launceston, Australia. It was se3t in a manicured lawn surrounded by a high-tech, modernist inspired Science Faculty building and a 1950 timber and tile built art school. The sculpture’s anthropomorphic structure drew attention to the quantitative and qualitative similarities and differences in the arts and sciences. However, Jorgen Hansen’s main pre-occupation was to exploit the University setting to comment on the rhetoric of the simple verbal and printed statement as a given. To Hansen the classic period of the American Western movies epitomised the use of no-nonsense, straightforward verbal commentary and John Wayne was the master of its artifice. The social conditioning and visual presentation of this popular Hollywood art form made sharp distinctions between right and wrong and good and bad. The genre overlooked the possible, the difficult spaces of the in-between and the subtle and complex human conditions and experiences that most of us confront each day. Hansen’s contention is that our lives are heterogeneous and cannot be summarised into simple utterances or be represented in packaged visual images. After the Cowboys sought to move outside the obvious, the throwaway line and the facile. The sculpture’s plan of radiating circles celebrated an ever-changing, optimistic and outward-looking world while the massive curtain walls assembled from simple cowboy-like clay elements focused our attention back in and through the work revealing dense patterns and shapes of great intricacy.
Jorgen Hansen’s sculpture accentuates the changing and evolving state of nature and human existence. The sense of making history and participating in change in real-time experience is the enduring memory that one carries away from these ephemeral works.
Vincent McGrath is Professor of Art and Head of the School of Visual and Performing Arts, Academy of the Arts at the University of Tasmania, Australia.
Ifigenija Simonović
Predstava, ki goreče žari in temni
Keramične skulpture Joergena Hansena
V vasi Voglje pri Šenčurju sta Barba Štembergar in Niko Zupan letos že četrtič organizirala Mednarodno kolonijo keramike (4. - 18. julij). V njuni delavnici vse leto potekajo tečaji keramike za otroke in odrasle, o koloniji pa sta začela razmišljati pred petimi leti, ko sta ugotovila, da se iz knjig ni mogoče vsega naučiti. Po šolah keramike po svetu delo rednih profesorjev dopolnjujejo gostujoči mojstri, ki študentom predstavljajo vsak svojo tehniko. Tako poteka učenje v več smeri hkrati, kar je tudi namen vogljanske kolonije. Poleg stika z gledalci in umetniki, s študenti in mojstri, pa se pretaka tudi navdušenje nad neomejenimi možnostmi oblikovanja, dekoriranja, glaziranja in žganja sprva mehke gline, ki jo oblikovalci z žganjem spreminjajo v trdne, brezčasne uporabne predmete ali kipe.
Letos se je na vabilo odzvalo devet keramikov in lončarjev iz Velike Britanije, Češke, Nemčije, Turčije, Srbije, Danske, z Japonske in iz Slovenije. Posebej pozorno sem spremljala delo Danca Joergena Hansena, ki je več dni izdeloval skulpturo iz 1000 kilogramov gline. Majhno, po njegovih merilih. V dneh, ko je delal v Vogljah, si je ogledal Ljubljano, njene muzeje, stanoval v hostlu Celica, prebral nekaj knjig, začel spraševati bistvena, neturistična vprašanja, in si že izbral mesto, kjer bi želel uprizoriti zgodovinsko akcentuiran kip, kakršnega imajo (ali so imeli!) do zdaj samo v 15 mestih na svetu. Uresničitev njegove želje je seveda odvisna od dojemljivosti političnih in umetniških institucij, zato je to žezlo za zdaj še bolj v oblakih kot v ognju.
Hansen dela z glino že več kot štirideset let. Zadnjih dvajset let ustvarja predvsem velikanske skulpture, po katerih je zaslovel po vsem svetu. V šestdesetih letih je prišlo do novega preporoda studio-keramike, ročno izdelanih posod za vsakdanjo uporabo, kar se je ujemalo s pogledi na individualnost povojne, tako imenovane "boom" generacije. Hansen izhaja iz področja danske keramične industrije in se je že kot otrok navduševal nad glino. Po obveznem vojaškem stažu se je vpisal na fakulteto za gozdarstvo, pred začetkom študija pa štopal na kratke počitnice v Pariz in se vrnil čez pet let kot izkušen lončar. Delal je pri mojstrih oblikovanja gline v Franciji, Kanadi in Angliji, celo pri legendarnem Angležu Bernardu Leachu, pri katerem je srečal tudi še bolj legendarnega japonskega mojstra Shoji Hamado. Gostoval je kot profesor keramike na Danskem, Švedskem, v Italiji, Nemčiji, Avstraliji, Islandiji in drugod. Čeprav se z lončarstvom še vedno ukvarja, pa so ga njegove velike posode, ki jih kupujejo muzeji po vsem svetu, napeljale k kipom arhitekturnih dimenzij, ki so dramatični, spektakularni, epski projekti umetnika, ki dela brez strahu in odprtega srca.
Po vrnitvi na Dansko je postavil studio v Ebeltoftu, a je verjetno edini potujoči oblikovalec gline v pravem pomenu besede, saj svoje kipe dela tam, kjer potem tudi stojijo. Obstoj njegovih kipov je treba vzeti filozofsko, saj ne gre le za postavitev, za dogodek žganja, ohlajanja in stanja, temveč tudi proces propadanja in izginotja, ki traja po odhodu ustvarjalca, ko se skulptura zasidra v prostor in čas. O umetnosti, o keramiki še posebej, saj tako kot skulpture iz kosti in kamna pričuje o človekovi kreativnosti od najzgodnješih civilizacij naprej, navadno mislimo kot o nečem večnem. Hansen dreza prav v človeško nadutost, zaradi katere je prepričan, da premaguje naravo. Zavest o smrtnosti in sla po nesmrtnosti nas ločujejo od vseh drugih bitij na tem planetu. Hansnove skulpture so kot veličastni rekvijemi.
Tisočletja stara keramika v muzejih se je ohranila, ker je bila bodisi zakopana v grobovih, zalita s plazovi ali lavo. V muzejih so arheološke najdbe skrbno zavarovane pred razpadanjem, a tudi tam nikakor niso zagotovljeno večne. Večne so samo glede na kratkost našega življenja, ki ga zaznavamo v obdobjih, deseletjih, morda stoletjih, sproti. Večnost je odvisna od raztegljivosti našega spomina, posameznikovega ali skupnega. Pompeje odkrivajo sproti, kar zjutraj odkopljejo, zvečer že propada. Kitajske glinene vojščake izgubljajo tako hitro, kakor jih odkopavajo. Hiše iz opeke je treba zavarovati z ometom in omet nenehno obnavljati, sicer se sesuvajo v prah. Joergen Hansen nikomur ne meče peska v oči. V naprej pove, da bojo njegove skulpture sčasoma propadle, včasih že po nekaj mesecih, podobno kot se zaključujejo gledališke predstave. To je zelo nerodno, saj je njegovo delo odvisno od sponzorjev, ki bi radi "nekaj dobili", si prav s sponzoriranje "prislužili" mesto med nesmrtniki. Razumeti minljivost, eno najtežjih ugank, pa je verjetno nemogoče.
Joergen Hansen je trubadur, ki poje o življenju, kakršno je tukaj in zdaj. V skulpture, ki so lahko narejene iz ene ali šest ali osem ton gline, vgnete svoj pogled na življenje, svoje politične in zgodovinske komentarje. Zanima ga gledališče in žganje kipov pojmuje kot predstavo. Skulpturo gradi dva, tri tedne, odvisno od velikosti, vsem na očeh, pred muzeji, v pristaniščih, pred katedralami in kulturnimi centri svetovnih prestolnic. Gradi iz mehke gline in se podreja zakonom ognja, ognjenih zubljev, ki morajo med žganjem, ki traja vsaj štirinidvajset ur, oblizniti vsak košček kipa. Gradnja skulpture je že del predstave. Hansen je kot dirigent, ki svoje pomočnike, soigralce, vodi proti vrhu. Med žganjem je skulptura ovita v nezgorljivo folijo, ki jo Hansen na koncu, ko skulptura doseže vsaj 1000 stopinj celzija in ko tudi folija že žari, kot plesoči čarovnik odlušči. Velikanska skulptura ima tudi notranje plasti, ki so samo v žarečem stanju vidne in prihajajo do izraza v trenutkih ohlajanja. Ko je zunanja stena že hladna, torej nevidno črna v temi, žarijo notranje stene kakor globlji pomeni, kakor razsvetljeno bistvo. Gledalcem zastane dih. Žareča skulptura nekaj minut trepeče v črni noči kot čipka iz tekoče lave. Tisti hip, ko se začenja ohlajati, ko žar začenja temneti, se predstava začenja zaključevati. Na koncu ostane skulptura iz žgane gline, vpeta v okolje, prepuščena času, staranju, razpadanju, umiranju.
Eden od kipov Joergena Hansena na primer stoji v Sonderborgu, na mestu bivše opekarne v pristanišču ob danskem morju in ima naslov Ballast. Od tam so v časih kolonializma plule ladje v Južno Ameriko. Kadar so bile ladje prazne, torej brez tovora sladkorja ali sužnjev, so jih obtežili z opeko in to opeko imenovali balast. Na predstavitvi svojega dela v Vogljah je Hansen povedal, da njegova skulptura Ballast kot gledališki dogodek, kot predstava govori o umetnosti kot balastu v dobrem pomenu besede, ki je naložen v nas, gledalce, ljudi, ki umetnost doživljamo, o balastu, ki nas napolnjuje in uravnoveša, kot je včasih opeka oravnovešala ladje na odprtem morju. Zaradi umetnosti ne potonemo, zaradi umetnosti smo več kot samo minljiva bitja na površini Zemlje.
Težko je opisati žareče skulpture Joergena Hansena, treba jih je doživeti. Ta zapis lahko dopolni pogled na spletno stran www.firingsculpture.com.
Article published in AMPAK, mesecnik za kulturo, politiko in gospodarstvo, september-oktober 2009, by Ifigeija Simonovic.
English translation:
Ceramic sculptures by Jørgen Hansen like a blazing opera, crackling symphonies or mysterious burning lace ….
Article written in Slovenian and translated into English by Ifigenija Simonović. Proofread by Jette Ní Mhaolcatha
In 2009, Barba Štembergar and Niko Zupan hosted the 4th symposium/seminar/meeting of ceramicists in the village of Voglje close to Šenčur. The symposium has its roots in the series of ceramic workshops Barba and Niko have held for adults and children in their studio. The latter have been a recurring yearly activity down through the years. Then, about five years ago, Barba and Niko began to think about organising a symposium for ceramicists as they realised one couldn't learn everything from books. At ceramic schools around the world, the work of resident tutors is supplemented by visiting ceramicists explaining their specific techniques. In addition to facilitating contact between the ceramicists and students, the symposium sparks the flow of enthusiasm for, and belief in, the unlimited possibilities of forming, decorating, glazing and firing the soft clay, which subsequently becomes transformed into hard, timeless objects and sculptures during the firing process.
9 foreign ceramicists from the UK, Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey, Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia were present at the 4th symposium. From the onset, the work of the Dane, Joergen Hansen, who was making a sculpture out of 1000 kg of clay, caught my attention. Apparently a small sculpture in comparison to the majority of other firing sculptures he has carried out to date. While working at Voglje he stayed at hostel Celica, visiting Ljubljana and its museums, reading some books and beginning to ask crucial, non-touristy questions. By and by, he chose a spot on which his coming sculpture could stand. He envisaged a sculpture bearing historical undertones, similar to those of a number other firing sculptures already in existence at some 15 sites around the world. Of course, the realisation of the sculpture at hand depended upon his comprehension of political and artistic institutions. Hence, for the time being his idea remains afloat in thin air, not yet ready to undergo the transformation of the firing process.
Hansen has worked with clay for more than 40 years. During the past 20 years he has mainly worked on large firing-sculptures, something for which he is renowned throughout the world. The 1960s witnessed the renewed renaissance of studio-ceramics, i.e. of handmade pots for everyday use, a movement, which coincided with the views on individuality held by the new, post-war, so-called "baby boom" generation. Growing up in the cradle of the Danish ceramics industry, Hansen found inspiration in clay from an early age. Having completed his military service, he decided to go to a short trip to Paris – five years later he returned home as an experienced potter. Along the way, he worked in the workshops of master potters in France, Canada England. He even worked with legendary Bernard Leach, and it was here that he first met Shoji Hamada. A professor of ceramics, Hansen has worked as a visiting tutor in amongst other places, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Australia and Iceland. While he still makes pots occasionally and they are bought by museums around the world, he has dedicated most of his time to the creation of sculptures of architectural dimensions. They are the dramatic, spectacular and epic projects of an artist, who works without fear and with an open heart. On his return to Denmark (1972) Hansen first established a studio in Tirstrup, moving on to Ebeltoft in 1989. He is probably the only travelling professor and ceramicist who works in clay, in the true sense of the word, erecting his sculptures in-situ, where they are intended to remain. His students act as his assistants in relation to the project at hand. In addition, he always involves the local inhabitants, so that the final "performance", i.e. the actual firing of the sculpture, which is the culmination of a few weeks hard labour, becomes a large and festive event. The existence (in time) of his sculpture has to be understood on a philosophical level. It is not only a question of building it, erecting it, firing it, cooling it and letting it stand, but also a question of its disintegration and disappearance. The latter comprises an ongoing process that continues to take place long after the ceramicist has left and the sculpture has been anchored in time and space. Normally, one thinks of art as being eternal. This is particularly true in relation to ceramics, as it, just like sculptures made of bone and stone, bears witness to the endeavours of human creativity from the earliest civilisations onwards. Hansen challenges this view, giving his fellowman the feeling/belief that he can conquer both death and nature. Our awareness of our mortality together with our constant striving to achieve immortality is what distinguishes us from all other living creatures on this planet. Like magnificent requiems, Hansen's sculptures stand as some sort of epic monuments chronicling the dawn of time. Following on from this, they are left standing, unprotected and vulnerable in the face of time and nature. Situated in very different places, both weather- and civilisation-wise, Hansen’s sculptures “disintegrate” in very different ways and at different paces.
For instance, Hansen erected a sculpture Sesam luk dig op (Open sesame) in an ethnically mixed and restless suburb of the Danish town of Aarhus. Because it was obvious that the sculpture would get vandalised if left in the open, the sculpture was deliberately made in two parts, one of which was transported to the local museum. This was the only time that Hansen allowed a sculpture to be moved in order to ensure its temporary preservation so that nature could take its toll undisturbed.
Ceramic pieces that were made thousands of years ago are to be found in our museums having been unearthed from their graves, which have been hidden under lava and avalanches. While archaeological finds are stored in museum collections under strict conditions in order not to disintegrate, there is no guarantee that they will stay intact forever. In stark contrast to the transience of our own lives, which we perceive in measures of periods, decades, and centuries and perhaps even in terms of the day-to-day scheme of things, they seem quite eternal. In light of the broader scheme of things, even the period between the first upwards step of the first primates up until contemporary times seems relatively short. Eternity depends upon the flexibility of our memory, i.e. both our personal memory and our collective memory. Yet another interesting observation is that while daily excavations are carried out in Pompeii, what is unearthed in the morning is already decaying in the evening. Hence Chinese clay soldiers are disintegrating in the open air as fast as they are being excavated. Similarly the paintings of Alta Mira are fading, because the caves have been opened to a selected audience- we are destroying them by our own breath. Thus, brick-houses have to be coated by a layer of protective plaster in order to prevent their crumbling. Joergen Hansen simply doesn't pretend. He tells the truth. Just as a theatre performance has a certain life span, his sculpture will eventually disappear, in fact, sometimes this is the case just after a few months of its completion. This is quite a confounding factor, particularly since the realisation of his works is entirely dependent upon the goodwill of sponsors, who would like to "gain" something in return for giving a donation, namely a place amongst the immortals. Following on from this it is quite natural to conclude that it is probably impossible to understand the transience of things, which in some senses is the most difficult puzzle of all.
Joergen Hansen is a troubadour, who sings a song commemorating life - life as it is in the here and now. Hence, he kneads his own outlook on life, his political and historic commentary into his sculptures, which can be made from anywhere between one and eight tons of clay, Interested in theatre, he views the process connected with the firing sculptures as a performance. Depending on the size of a given sculpture, Hansen and his assistants spend between two to three weeks building it in-situ for everybody to see, be it in front of a museum, cathedral, or cultural centre in one of the world’s major cities. Using soft clay he subjects his form to the laws of fire, ensuring that the blazing flames touch upon each bit of the form during the firing. A lengthy process - it can take 24 hours to complete. The construction itself is part of the performance, and Hansen is like a conductor leading his assistants towards the climax. During the firing, the sculpture is wrapped in a fireproof foil which Hansen, at the very height of the process when the heat of the firing reaches about 1000 degrees and when the foil itself is ablaze, pulls off in the manner of a dancing wizard. The large sculptures also have a varying number of inner layers, which are only visible when ablaze and as such only perceivable during the process of cooling following the dramatic unveiling. When the outer wall has cooled down and therefore stands invisibly black in the darkness, the inner walls seem to glow as though suggesting some kind of deeper meanings. There, in the darkness of the night, the spectators hold their breath momentarily… as the sculpture stands brilliantly aglow, like lace worked out of molten lava. Then, as the sculpture starts cooling and its glow begins to darken, the performance enters its final act. Finally, all that is left is the sculpture itself - made out of fired clay and placed on earth, left to itself, time, age, degeneration, dying and decomposition…
Another of Joergen Hansen’s sculptures entitled Ballast stands on the site of an old brickworks on the banks of the harbour in the Danish town of Sonderborg. It was from this spot, that ships set sail for South America in colonial times. When the boats were empty, without their return cargo of sugar or slaves, they had to be weighed down with bricks. These bricks were called ballast. When introducing his work at Voglje, Joergen Hansen spoke of the sculpture in Sonderborg as a theatrical happening or performance, that depicts art as ballast in the positive sense of the word, i.e. as something integral to our very sense of being, to us who behold and experience art. This experience is the very ballast that provides us with a sense of completeness and the possibility of equilibrium, just as bricks helped ships float safely in times gone by. In short it is because of the arts that we are more than mere transient beings on the surface of the Earth.
Hansen, Leret og Ilden
Af Lars Svanholm
Bronze, granit, marmor er typiske materialevalg i udførelsen af skulpturer. Det er materialer, der er kendetegnet ved et højt element af holdbarhed. Det forholder sig helt anderledes med keramikeren Jørgen Hansens brændingsskulpturer. De nedbrydes i en proces, der kan strække sig fra uger til år.
Lars Svanholm er billedkunstner og kunstskribent ved bl.a. Kunstportalen aarhus.nu
Vi befinder os ved bredden af Flensborg Fjord og nattens mørke har omfavnet området omkring Cathrinesminde Teglværk på Broagerland. Keramikeren Jørgen Hansen har set sig nødsaget til at ændre på den fysiske udformning af sin nyeste brændingsskulptur, som efter planen skulle brændes den 11. august 2007.
I denne fase af projektet, som i opbygningen er tre dage gammelt, ligger de tretten medhjælpere og sover i deres senge i et nærliggende hus, som Røde Kors ejer, men ikke bruger – og følgende har stillet til rådighed. Blot ikke kunstneren, som arbejder koncentreret på at virkeliggøre sin idé og gøre sin event mulig.
En kompliceret proces
Jørgen Hansen har i de sidste 14 år foretaget et godt og vel tilsvarende antal begivenheder med afsæt i såkaldte brændingsskulpturer over hele verden. Så forskelligartede lokaliteter som Reykjavik på Island og Perth i Australien har dannet ramme om disse bemærkelsesværdige seancer. Materialerne er i al deres enkelthed ler og ild og når dét er nævnt, stopper talen samtidigt om noget som helst, der kan betegnes som ukompliceret.
Processen er indviklet. Det er ikke blot de vidensbetonede elementer, der afstedkommer et kompliceret forløb. Opbygningen af en brændingsskulptur fordrer et uhyre stort kendskab til ler og hvordan varmen fra ilden påvirker de forskellige lertyper, der kan bruges i et sådant forløb. Derudover opbygges skulpturen i et minutiøst mønster, der i forbindelse med den pågældende begivenhed er stærkt medvirkende til, at skabe den magi, som en sådan event akkumulerer en mørk sommeraften f.eks. i området omkring Cathrinesminde Teglværk.
Der ligger et kolossalt stykke adminstrativt arbejde til grund for disse begivenheder. Der skal søges midler til udførelsen. Der skal sammensættes et team af hjælpere – og disse skal helst være en mangestrenget enhed, som balancerer i forhold til erfaring, køn og alder. I det aktuelle tilfælde udgør holdet 13 hjælpere og økonomien er bl.a. sikret af støtte fra Ny Carlsbergfondet, som har bevilget kr. 100.000 til projektet. Derudover har Sønderborg Kommune bevilget 40.000 og de mange tons ler er sponsoreret af et teglværk i området.
Ingen panik
Som nævnt er Jørgen Hansen optaget af udformningen af dén brændingsskulptur, som i løbet af få dage skulle tiltrække et tusindtal stort segment af tilskuere, der ikke ville gå glip af Hansens leg med ilden og formen. Og netop formen havde udviklet sig til et problem. Jørgen Hansens idégrundlag var en skulptur, der skulle fremstå som en lettere forskudt hvælving. Den skulle hælde ud mod fjorden og samtidigt derved pege ud i dén verden, som skibene i gamle dage sejlede ud i med sten fra teglværket som ballast.
Jørgen Hansen går ikke i panik. Han udvikler en ny form, som i udtryk og i sin endelige version rummer de samme elementer som dén, han havde været nødt til at kassere. Klokken fire om morgenen ligger det nye koncept klart, og den følgende dag kan den stædige kunstner og hans 13 assistenter gå i gang med at udføre den hurtigt improviserede Plan B.
Efterfølgende udviklede hele begivenheden sig. Publikum fulgte den anstrengende proces i et stort tal. Uforudsigelige elementer spiller ind i forløbet. Jørgen Hansen og hans utrættelige hjælpere sætter dagligt 11-timersreglen ud ad spil i kampen mod leret og vejret, der i sommeren 2007 huskes som alt andet end stabilt.
Ballast
Lørdag den 11. august om eftermiddagen, da skulpturen endelig var helt indpakket i isolerende fibermateriale, kunne Jørgen Hansen og hans hjælpere gå over til den egentlige brænding. I et par dage havde der været konstant forsigtig ild i skulpturen, som er bygget direkte på grunden med nederst en opbygning af løse mursten. En oplagt reference til bl.a. teglværksproduktion. Leret, som er blevet tilberedt specielt til projektet, kommer oprindelig fra Westerwald og England. Et sådant projekt fordrer ler af en høj kvalitet.
Det afgørende øjeblik i hele forløbet er indlysende, hvor brændingen er på sit højeste. Pindene som skulpturen bliver fodret med udvælges nærmest stykvis, da det er vigtigt, de ikke er for tykke. De ville derved brænde for langsomt og temperaturen vil falde og ikke nå de magiske 1100 grader, som er nødvendig, for at leret bliver brændt rigtigt. Den fase er præget af en uforudsigelighed, der modsvarer dén, som er betinget af udefra kommende forhold.
Eventets dramatiske højdepunkt indtræffer efter at Jørgen Hansen har fjernet den første del af låget. Et øjeblik efter fjernes isoleringen og værket åbner sig i takt med, at Hansen og hans hjælpere eksponerer det. Skulpturen er rødglødende og gennem åbninger og bag de tynde lervægge ses flammerne og det intenst hvidglødende indre. Efter endnu et øjeblik skrider bagvæggen og styrter sammen med et brag. Efterfølgende skrider endnu en væg sammen. Uforudsigeligheden og foranderligheden har taget styringen og først nu får værket sin titel: Ballast.
Foranderlighed og forgængelighed
Netop foranderlighed er essensen i et sådant værks karakter. Det er således meget nærliggende at spørge kunstneren, hvordan hans kunstneriske forfængelighed har det med, at alle anstrengelserne udvikler et værk, der over en overskuelig tid eroderer og forsvinder fra jordens overflade:
Det synes jeg er rigtigt tilfredsstillende. Der står så mange ting rundt omkring, som man ikke kan komme af med. Så det er mig en stor fornøjelse, at tænke på, at det på et tidspunkt er væk.
Han fortæller i forlængelse heraf, at denne proces varer mellem tre uger og syv år.
Der sker en naturlig forandring med disse ”ruiner” i nedbrydningsprocesserne og Jørgen Hansen ser dette som en del af de skiftende brændingsskulptureres organiske betydning. Han synes usædvanligt betaget af værkernes flygtighed, og han sammenligner dem i den forbindelse med poesi eller musik. Han nævner en tone, der afspilles og derefter blot forvinder ud i rummet for at blive afløst af en ny tone. Et digt læses op og forsvinder. Det kan dokumenteres på tryk; men det talte stykke poesi er ikke længere til stede, efter at det er blevet reciteret.
Som kunsthåndværker arbejder Jørgen Hansen i flere dimensioner og i et spændingsfelt mellem brugskunst og skulptur. Det er i forlængelse af dét område, at udviklingen og udførelsen af brændingsskulpturerne bør ses. I samme moment kunne det være et udtryk for, at han gerne lod publikum iagttage disse skulpturer som øjebliksbilleder i relation til den håndgribelighed, der kendetegner traditionelt kunsthåndværk.
Han sammenfatter denne indre nødvendighed, som det for ham er at skabe disse begivenheder, med sin store interesse for teater, litteratur og musik. Han drømmer om, at være i stand til at spille på violin og skabe toner; men han ved, hvad han er god til – og han ved samtidigt hvilke begrænsninger, han besidder. Han er meget bevidst om, at alle bør gøre dét, de er bedst til, herunder han selv.
Det ukendte
Uddannelsen som keramiker har afstedkommet, at Jørgen Hansen har bygget en del ovne, både til sig selv og andre. Denne udvikling har igen forstærket en lyst hos kunstneren til at udvikle nye måder at bruge det keramiske medie på.
Fascinationen af at udvikle og iagttage processerne i arbejdet med keramikken beskriver han således:
At kigge ind i ovnen og se tingene stå glødende er et utroligt stærkt syn. Den måde, man ser leret gløde på, giver indtryk af noget, man slet ikke ved noget om. Som at se ind i det ukendte, fordi det også er noget, der ligger i de skulpturer, jeg bygger. Jeg laver aldrig den samme. Hvergang er det en voldsom udfordring, fordi det hvergang er som at begynde på noget ukendt.
Det giver mening, at trangen og behovet for at konstruere disse brændningsskulpturer, for Jørgen Hansen har et direkte afsæt i arbejdet med ovne og ild i harmoni med den varme, som disse har givet. Ilden genererer vel i den sammenhæng et udtryk, der har sit afsæt i en urkraft, som kan være ødelæggende og opbyggende på samme tid? Dette gøres på en meget klar måde begribeligt i kraft af, at Jørgen Hansen for nyligt skabte én af sine brændingsskulpturer i Reykjavik på Island. Her er naturens egen historiske kraft så voldsom, at en brændingsskulptur kunne have samme effekt som en dråbe i oceanet.
Der er stor forskel på, om en brændingsskulptur skal fungere det ene eller det andet sted i Verden. Broagerland er ikke Tasmanien og Reykjavik er ikke området omkring det, man kaldte Checkpoint Charlie, i det centrale Berlin, hvor Jørgen Hansen skabte en brændingsskulptur i 2002. Lokaliteten har hele tiden en betydning. At skabe et sådant univers er et indgreb i et miljø, og dermed integrerer værket sig i de skiftende omgivelser på højst uensartede måder.
En drøm er at lave en skulptur i Japan, fordi dette i kunstnerens bevidsthed er uudforsket land. Det ville være endnu en rejse ind i det ukendte – og netop her findes den altovervejende drivkraft bag disse brændingsskulpturer, der opføres, brænder og forfalder.
