Based on his personal recollections and sketches from a pilgrimage trip, Erik A. Frandsen has created a large-scale decoration for the recently renovated entrance lobby at VUC Aarhus. The decoration consists of a circular neon light sculpture, a stone mosaic in the floor and three mosaic murals made of a total of 562,000 glass tiles. In the decoration, Frandsen combines contrasting materials and artistic methods to form a work of art with both historical and physical gravity.
‘There are polarities, such as the connectedness of the figures in contrast to the division established by the inserted floor. Or the spatial and temporal lightness of the sketch as a genre compared to the weightiness of the mosaics,’ says Morten Kyndrup, board member of the New Carlsberg Foundation and professor of Aesthetics and Culture at Aarhus University.
Respectful of its surroundings
Frandsen’s unique grasp of this combination of expressions and materials is also evident in his approach to the physical setting. And by allowing the inserted floor in the lobby to slice through the three wall mosaics Frandsen is letting the architectural space of the building play a prominent role.
‘Erik A. Frandsen has created a convincing decoration marked by an excellent understanding of the physical setting and of the day-to-day users of the school. His installation respects the clean lines and expression of the lobby, but also challenges the barren anonymity that sometimes characterizes functionalist architecture. In other words, the project amplifies the human aspect of the beautiful main entrance; a contribution that we at the New Carlsberg Foundation believe will be appreciated by both students and staff,’ Morten Kyndrup adds.
A signature feature
VUC Aarhus took over the building on Dalgas Avenue in 2015, and after the extensive renovation of the facility, Rector Erik Ernø-Kjølhede of VUC Aarhus is proud and grateful that the school now boasts a work of art on this scale that complements the lobby as a whole:
‘I am certain that this decorative project will become a signature feature of the school. As the first thing people meet when they come in the front entrance, it shapes that all-important first impression, which couldn’t be better. On behalf of VUC Aarhus I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Erik A. Frandsen for this amazing work of art and to the New Carlsberg Foundation for an excellent collaboration and a very generous donation.’
