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Catalogue published by the Akureyri Art Museum in conjuction with the exhibition Rhythms of Life - the works of Andrew Rogers.
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Andrew rogers Rhythms of Life
Andrew rogers Rhythms of Life i-Vii
Rhythms of Life
the Rhythms of Life project by Australian artist Andrew
Rogers is the largest contemporary land-art undertaking
in the world, forming a chain of stone sculptures, or
geoglyphs, around the globe. monumental geoglyphs have
been constructed in seven countries to date: israel, Chile,
Bolivia, sri Lanka, Australia, iceland and China. future
locations will include india, the United states, United
Kingdom and eastern europe. By completion, the project
will have involved over 5,000 people on six continents.
the Rhythms of Life sculptures are optimistic metaphors
for the eternal cycle of life and regeneration, expressive
and suggestive of human striving and introspection. the
geoglyphs embrace a wide cultural vision that links memory
and various symbols derived from ancient rock carvings,
paintings and legends in each region; they punctuate time
and extend history into the distant future while delving
into the depths of our heritage in pursuit of the spiritual.
the exhibition at the Akureyri Art museum in iceland is the
first general survey of the project
Cover: Ancient Language, Atacama Desert, Chile 2003
RHYTHMS OF LIFE I-VII
May 5 – June 24, 2007
Hannes Sigurdsson
Publisher : Akureyri Ar t Museum, 2007©
Design: Akureyri Ar t Museum/Erika Isaksen
Translation: Vicky Cribb
Proofreading: Julian Thorsteinson, Uggi Jónsson
Photography: Andrew Rogers, Hari Ho, Gavan Hansford,
Golan Levi, Páll Stefánsson
Printing: Ásprent, Akureyri, Iceland
Typography: Trajan, Gill Sans
Paper : Galerie Silk 170 gr
ISBN: 978-9979-9632-7-1
9 THE LAW OF IRRATIONALITY — AN ODE TO LIFE
BY HANNES SIGURDSSON
23 WHERE THE AIR IS CLEAR
BY LILLY WEI
32 ISRAEL
46 CHILE
58 BOLIVIA
68 SRI LANKA
76 AUSTRALIA
84 ICELAND
94 CHINA
105 LÖGMÁL ÓRÖKVÍSINNAR — ÓÐUR TIL LÍFSINS
EFTIR HANNES SIGURÐSSON
112 ANDREW ROGERS
113 UPPLÝSINGAR UM STEINGARÐANA
115 ABOUT THE AUTHORS
116 SELECTED BRONZE SCULPTURES
127 ANDREW ROGERS: CHRONOLOGY & BIBLIOGRAPHY
Page 2: Celebration of Life, Iceland, 2006Facing page: Rhythms of Life, Art Centre of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. Bronze h. 2.7metres, 1996
My ongoing theme will continue to be the Rhythms of Life — metaphors for the eternal cycle of life, growth, and
all the attendant emotions that color human existence. These rhythms are the optimistic symbols of regeneration
— expressive and suggestive of human striving and introspection. My sculpture is a reflection of our society,
our dreams and aspirations. To express oneself is a timeless and universal need. I hope my forms are a melding
of intelligence and imagination and succeed in putting concepts into forms. For me sculpture will always be an
expression of the heart, not just the application of a skill. Sculpting teaches one to perceive, recognize differences,
clarify, make decisions, and eventually to see what matters in the creation of a form. What better way can an
individual express the spirit of humanity? [...] Only two things are certain in life, being born and dying. I am
interested in our interaction with the environment and with people around us. I like to look at the states we pass
through and the changes that occur around us, the challenges we encounter as we cross the biosphere. [...] The
Rhythms of Life is about the influences on our lives — where we begin, and where we end. It reflects Kandinsky’s
idea that a line is only a series of points that are connected. Perhaps this is the essence of life.
Time is like the water,
and the water is cold and deep
like my own consciousness.
And time is like a picture,
which is painted of water,
half of it by me.
And time and the water
into my own consciousness.
Steinn Steinarr (1908–1958)
Time and the Water, 1956
(Translation by Marshall Brement)
The Australian sculptor Andrew Rogers is carving out a niche for himself in art history with
a series of huge geoglyphs, or rock sculptures, that will eventually form a chain around the
world. Of the twelve planned environmental artworks, seven have been realized so far, in-
cluding one near the town of Akureyri in northern Iceland. The adventure began in Israel’s
Arava Desert in March 1999 and led to the creation of four land artworks over several
years. After a lengthy interval, the project was extended to other countries, with one ma-
jor work succeeding another. The second site chosen was one of the planet’s largest dry
regions, the Atacama Desert in Chile (September 2004), followed in short succession by the
Cerro Rico mountains in Bolivia (March 2005), a site near the city of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka
(November 2005), the You Yangs National Park in Geelong, Australia (February 2006), the
Akureyri region in Iceland (September 2006) and, most recently, the Gobi Desert in China,
facing the Qilian Mountains at the western end of the Great Wall (October 2006).
The collective name for this colossal land-sculpture project is Rhythms of Life, deriving from
a sculpture Rogers made in 1996, and the theme permeates the entire project, which now
encompasses four continents. Each work in the series typically consists of three geoglyphs.
One of these bears the name of the project, “Rhythms of Life”, while the other two are
inspired by some ancient symbol or artefact by anonymous creators, belonging to the lo-
cal cultural heritage. The oldest of these ancient symbols that have inspired Rogers is a
6,000-year-old petroglyph, or rock carving, found in Chile. Generally, only a few kilometres
separate the three symbolic geoglyphs, which often lie within sight of one another. Most
of the works are constructed off the beaten track, in protected areas, using thousands of
tonnes of rock. Largely built by hand, the glyphs to date have involved the participation of
almost 3,300 people (550 in Chile, 750 in Bolivia, 850 in Sri Lanka and 1,000 in China) in
widely contrasting landscapes, ranging from an altitude of 200 metres below sea level (Arava
in Israel) to 4,360 metres above sea level (Altiplano in Bolivia). Temperatures on the sites
have ranged from -1°C in Iceland to +45°C in Israel, and the builders have had to contend
with thin air and lack of oxygen in the highest locations, as well as extreme weather condi-
tions, including heat waves and sandstorms.
Rogers often collaborates with two Israeli architects, Tidhar Becker and Golan Levi, who
are responsible for planning the sculptures in meticulous detail with the help of GPS tech-
nology and satellite pictures. A myriad of stakes are then driven into the ground and linked
with ropes to mark out the pattern, taking care to preserve the correct perspective when
sculpture is unique, built from rocks generally ranging in weight from 300 kg up to 5 tonnes,
and in height from 50 cm to 6.5 metres, arranged in massive, dense formations or looser
piles. Exceptionally large boulders, weighing some 12 tonnes, were used in the work Bunjil
(the Wedge-tailed Eagle), created by Rogers in conjunction with Melbourne’s 2006 Com-
monwealth Games.
We know the starting point of Rhythms of Life, although where the project will end is an-
Work in progress: Kurunegala, Sri Lanka 2005
change tack and channel his energies into three-dimensional sculpture. Like Paul Gauguin
over 130 years earlier, who quit stockbroking to pursue his romantic desire for the un-
touched and primitive, Rogers found that his artistic calling took him to remote and exotic
locations, without, however, being separated from his family, thanks to the steel birds of
modern technology. Rogers had previously painted in his spare time but, inspired by Ro-
din’s sculptures, he began to concentrate on mastering the three-dimensional moulding of
the human anatomy. In 1995, his art underwent another shift, with abstraction taking over
of life: the spirit of humanity, creation, growth, the heartbeat of existence and the cycle of
generation. Organic forms and rhythms are a striking characteristic of his work, in which
abstract forms are imbued with emotions and are often suggestive of organic growth out of
the soil or the rounded forms of the female body.
Rogers begins by sketching his ideas on paper and then produces a 60 cm. maquette of the
as twelve editions each. One of Rogers’ better known bronze sculptures is Flora Exemplar
is easily accessible to all. An organic form with allusions to a plant reaches towards the
sun and at the same time spirals down into the earth. Life and death go hand in hand, on
a converging course. Yet although death and suffering play their part in Rogers’ sculptures,
it is the idea of life and its cycle that predominates. Flora Exemplar now exists in nine edi-
tions around the world, along with numerous other sculptures by Rogers dedicated to the
theme of Rhythms of Life.
Andrew Rogers was captivated by the Arava Desert on Israel’s Jordanian border when he
visited it in 1996 as part of a commission to create a large cast of Flora Exemplar for Sapir,
the national park administration centre, and he immediately started preparations for his
Chai (‘To Life’), which combines two
Hebrew letters symbolizing longevity, taken from the Torah, or the Jewish book of laws.
Rogers decided to use only rock from the immediate vicinity for his works, from the outset
stressing the importance of causing the minimum disturbance to nature. The sculpture
Israeli architecture students, two Israeli engineers and twenty Arab stone masons, working
twelve hours a day.
Flora Exemplar, Vienna, Austria 1999
Once the work was completed, Rogers drew attention to the image’s symbolic links to
daily life and human reproduction by photographing forty-two pregnant women posing
knew he would go on to create another. In 2001, shortly after his massive bronze sculp-
ture of Rhythms of Life was installed in Melbourne, he began to develop the outlines of this
sculpture to be produced as a raised relief in the sandy desert. The result was his third
and largest work in the Arava, Slice (80 x 38 metres), a stylized cross-section of a sea-shell,
a reference to the fact that the desert is an ancient seabed teeming with fossils.
Andrew Rogers already had his eye on Iceland as a possible site for his project when he
met the sculptor Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir at the annual outdoor Sculpture by the Sea festi-
val in Sydney in 2004 and asked her to put him in touch with interested parties. Steinunn
dropped me an e-mail and I was immediately curious to know more, convinced that an
have imagined the vast scale of the project until it came to the crunch, nor how much of
it would involve trying to obtain the appropriate public permits. As at the other sites, the
plan was to build three adjacent symbolic images in the sparsely populated countryside.
Rogers wanted locals, preferably some kind of Council of Elders as is found among the
Australian aboriginals, to choose the two symbols alluding to the land and its people that
would stand alongside Rhythms of Life. One of the symbols, The Akureyri Eagle, struck me
immediately as an obvious choice, since it is one of Iceland’s guardian spirits, derived from
the book Heimskringla (Orb of the World), written c. 1225, a quasi-mythological history of
the Norwegian kings and their descendants.
The second symbol required a longer gestation and nearly had to be delivered by cae-
sarean! Rogers was looking for a motif with deep roots in Icelandic history, but divorced
from cult or religious connotations. However, although the country has been settled for
some 1,132 years, there is not much in the way of ancient imagery that is unambiguously
Icelandic. The sparse population, barren landscape and hostile environment resulted in
earlier generations leaving little behind them but yellowing manuscripts — though these
do include the Sagas of the Icelanders, the most remarkable extant collection of medi-
eval European prose — so one could claim that conceptual art left its precocious foot-
prints here.
The Akureyri Eagle
Advice was sought from Thóra Kristjánsdóttir of the National Museum of Iceland and Ice-
land’s leading runologist, Dr. Thórgunnur Snædal of the National Heritage Board in Stock-
holm. After some discussion it was agreed that we should narrow our search to the ancient
runic letters deriving from the common Germanic heritage. But what the rune should
signify remained unresolved until I had a brainwave: Now. What could be more appropri-
ate than to sculpt the concept of the passing moment, ‘now’; to use rocks delved from a
ten-million-year-old mountain to express one eternal moment, in the ancient language of
runes? Rogers agreed to this suggestion at once. While we were still at the conceptual
stage, Arndís Bergsdóttir, who had been appointed project manager two months before
would not hear of postponing the project until 2007; he wanted it to happen as soon as
possible, within a few months, now!
The project required construction machinery, surveyors with precise equipment, labourers
and stone masons. Rogers had chosen two sites: below the scout hut on Fálkafell and on
Mt. Hlídarfjall below Mannshryggur, but it was necessary to obtain the permission of the
local authority before the artworks could be built there. No request of this type had ever
been submitted before; hence there were no existing regulations or guidelines for dealing
with it. Permission to build in the third location, on Mt. Vadlaheidi which belongs to Sval-
bardsstrond district, was obtained from the landowners at Hallland, and a similar process
was adopted by the district committee and Akureyri town council. The Nordurorka power
company wanted an expert opinion because the site on Mt. Hlídarfjall is in a protected area
containing the town’s main water supply. The resulting report from the Icelandic Institute
of Natural History and was negative, since the institute considered that the work would
cause excessive damage to the soil. The local authority then informed the National Planning
Agency and Environmental Agency of the request and a further wait for a decision ensued.
The matter was also placed before the Akureyri Nature Conservation Agency, which took a
Eventually, when neither the Environmental Agency nor the Planning Agency opposed the
project, the Akureyri authorities gave the green light to proceed, on certain conditions.
Certain documentation had to be provided before work could commence, including an en-
vironmental impact study by the consulting company Alta. The project had to be publicized
Hannes Sigurdsson, Ingólfur Ármannsson, former Director of
in the district, to allow local residents time to object before a decision would be made on
planning permission. Meanwhile, the hunt was on for construction machinery and workers,
which turned out to be booked up for months ahead. Eventually, two machine operators
agreed to take on the project, but they had to order special stone-shifting equipment from
Germany for their excavators. At last, on August 15th, permission was obtained for ge-
oglyphic artworks on Mt. Hlídarfjall and Fálkafell, although approval was not unanimous.
When Andrew Rogers arrived in Iceland to start work, it became apparent that the sur-
veyors provided by Akureyri town council had allocated too small an area. Moreover, the
Israeli architects working for Rogers received something of a shock when they saw how
few rocks were available on the sites. The cold, wet, stormy conditions that greeted them
on their arrival from Tel Aviv did nothing to raise their morale. A decision was taken to
reduce the number of workers still further, increase the number of machines, and lay stones
at regular intervals instead of building walls, in a manner not dissimilar to Rogers’ realiza-
tion of his sculptures in Australia. The outcome bears some resemblance to the paintings
of Chuck Close, in that from a distance the symbols can easily be perceived as a complete
picture, while near at hand they merge to a greater or lesser extent with the surrounding
landscape. Passers-by who know nothing of the genesis of the works might well attribute
the oddly geometrical position of some of the rocks to a coincidence of nature.
Permission for the project on Mt. Vadlaheidi was granted at the beginning of September af-
ter minor adjustments were made to the site of the sculpture to mitigate local councillors’
as follows: Eagle is on Mt. Hlídarfjall, a stone’s throw from the ski hut, the rune Now is on
top of Mt. Vadlaheidi and Rhythms of Life
Rogers’ every move over the next three weeks, as documentaries have been made on each
of his projects, giving insights into the life and history of the places involved. When the
land sculptures were completed, Rogers arranged a helicopter, as is his custom, and had
the geoglyphs recorded with the help of photographer Páll Stefánsson. In answer to an
angle on Rhythms of Life, without letting the 5°C temperature dissuade them from allowing
their offspring to share in the creation of an immortal work of art. (At least, it is likely to
almost certainly stand unchanged for centuries to come.)
Rhythms of Life in progress, Falkafell, Iceland 2006
The obstacles Rogers had to surmount to have his project approved and all the attend-
ant fuss and bother in Iceland were minor compared to obstacles he has had to deal with
elsewhere, the Icelandic segment of his project being by far the smallest in scope. In terms
of scale and red tape, the enterprise is reminiscent of the environmental artworks created
around the world since the early 1970s by the duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude, though
remove all trace of their work after a set interval, Rogers employs a natural material, uncut
stone, and builds it to endure. Rogers cooperates closely with the indigenous people of
each area, taking heed of their culture and heritage in a kind of organic process, whereas
Christo and Jeanne-Claude seem to rely more on their own ideas in the development of
contrast, for all we know, if the world were destroyed in a natural calamity and little else
remained, a historian of the twenty-third century might deduce that Rogers’ works were
many thousands of years old.
Nevertheless, these artists all share a profound respect for nature and the environment in
which they are working. Rogers takes care to leave the area as pristine as possible, with no
trace of his presence apart from the work itself. Otherwise, it is unlikely that he would have
received permission to proceed with his daring plans in China’s Gobi Desert, in the area
where Marco Polo (b. 1254) arrived too late to meet Genghis Khan (d. 1227), given that the
location adjoins a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Should later generations disagree with
the decision to construct the works, it would no doubt be possible to dismantle them and
return the area to its former natural state.
Andrew Rogers’ vast land-sculpture project is one of the largest, if not the largest, ever
undertaken, not excepting Britain’s Stonehenge or the Nazca Lines in Peru. The project
has a deliberately archaic feel, alluding so far back into misty antiquity and forward into the
distant future that all measures of time lose their meaning. Few if any artists have reached
further back in their post-modern recycling of history. The idea of ‘appropriation’ becomes
irrelevant in this context, as does any talk of kitsch, a term to describe the cutesy tat of
-
cally bad taste.
The Caveman, Gobi Desert, China 2006
Rogers’ land sculptures are monumental, pregnant with meaning, rock solid, positive, brave,
sublime and timeless – yet it is unlikely that they could have been created in any other pe-
riod. They also bear clear witness to having been conceived by a man who, far from being
afraid to celebrate rounded forms and curved lines, dares to make the cliché of Mother
on his works. The project is in fact monumentally out of sync with the times; artists who
faithfully comply with the art world’s most popular recipe books and mishmash philosophy
do not do this sort of thing. But Andrew Rogers is different. And it is precisely this dif-
ference that makes his works so captivating; they offer a sharp counterpoint to the quali-
ties of chaos, capriciousness, transience and aimlessness that form the popular, unspoken
contract on what serious art should deal with today.
But where Rogers really oversteps the boundaries is in terms of the religious or spiritual
undercurrents in his work, in an age when the leading proponents of Reason, men like Rich-
ard Dawkins and Daniel C. Dennett, have declared all such matters forbidden fruit. This is
not to imply that Rogers is particularly pious, but in a world of rampant materialism he does
represent a fundamental moral baseline. His works are grounded in the lowest common
denominator of all faiths, life itself, and in the cycle and rhythms of life that permeate nature.
Rogers underlines the importance of emotions, intuitive spatial awareness and spiritual di-
mensions as the driving force of creation and the foundation of understanding.
His celebration of life and nature, with its reference to emotion and intuition, is reminiscent
of the ideas of Rousseau before the dark powers associated with Romantic nature wor-
ship (and the ancient veneration of Mother Earth) came to dominate ideological concerns.
These subsequently developed into what came to be known as Vitalism or Life Philosophy
(Lebensphilosophie), which is sceptical about rationalism, proposing instead life itself as the
present that is subject to the laws of the eternal cycle. The ‘anti-rationalism’ of Vitalism is
preoccupied with identifying the forces that underlie past and present culture, viewing art
as the revelation of particular forces within mankind. Yet although the discourse of Vitalism
are nevertheless also eloquent examples of rationalism, technology and stability. They are
-
rything in the world is doomed to crumble, decay and ultimately disappear. The transitory
Celebration of Life, Arava Desert, Israel 2003
nature of life, which forms the theme of the works, is in striking contrast to their durable
materials. The principle of art is to try to grasp hold of time and anything human that can
be attached to it. One could say that the paradox in Rogers’ works is so immense that it
loops back on itself and consequently almost vanishes in a puff of bewilderment like a Zen
koan pending enlightenment.
Rogers evidently proposes artistic creativity and human reproduction as parallel notions,
a very familiar motif in art history. The geniuses of the past had aspirations, and mastered
rational thinking and their materials in order to produce great art. The material itself
did not contribute anything to the creation. According to Aristotle, woman contributed
nothing to a child beyond herself as material, whereas man contributed the seed that
contained the power of creation. During the Romantic period this Aristotelian concept
of creation underwent a transformation, with the irrational aspects of the creative process
acknowledged and idealised. Thus the artist tends to be metaphorically associated with the
art which can only see the light of day by dint of blood, sweat and tears.
Nietzsche stated that there are two types of artists: those who wish to beget and those
who wish to be fertilized and give birth. In The Birth of Tragedy (1872) he introduces two
central principles of art and life: the Apollonian, representing rationalism, stasis and unique
that the dialectic created between these two opposing forces was the driving force of
creativity. In Rogers’ works all these concepts coexist in a peculiar harmony; he conceives
the ideas, designs and constructs the works, both alone and in cooperation with countless
other people. He celebrates both the spirit and the material, yet the spirit does not ferti-
lize the material any more than the material begets the spirit. In his art the non-rational is
presented rationally, the author is indisputable yet invisible, and passions are made manifest
through the calculations and measurements of satellites.
The Romantics’ interest in the feminine and birth as symbols of the creative artist had
nothing to do with any interest in real women or real births; indeed, the ideology of the
period is considered one of the most misogynist in human history. Rogers, in contrast,
Celebration of Life, Arava Desert, Israel 2003
photographs pregnant women on the Rhythms of Life, emphasizing that he is concerned with
the phenomena of reproduction and creation as one and the same concept of life, not as
symbols of one another. Of course, just as environmentalists can become uneasy about
a work that is an ode to nature, so feminists can be suspicious of the use of the female
body, no matter how well intentioned. Historically, the celebration of certain innate female
characteristics (as well as those of race or class) has often been used as an instrument of
oppression. Rogers risks such criticism, in exchange for the liberating celebration of a com-
pelling analogy: in the rhythm of life that enables humanity to overcome the inevitability of
time and death, childbirth is an apt metaphor for the artist’s act of creation.
Inevitably, Andrew Rogers’ concept of life is rooted in cultural history and his “rational
irrationality” bears similarities to Spinoza’s “systematic rationalism”. Spinoza’s philosophy
rests on three key elements: God, mankind and mankind’s quest for happiness, which is
predicated on knowledge, to which the highest virtues are linked. Knowledge is accessible
through four paths: information obtained from others, direct perception from personal
experience, the possibility of deducing true notions from other common notions that are
reliable, because intuitive knowledge consists of direct insight or anschauung, which reveals
the ‘true essence of things’ and therefore it cannot be mistaken. The structure of Spinoza’s
metaphysics and ethics is based on a mathematical system that led him to the conclusion
space or in any other respect. Understanding what it is to be human is tantamount to real-
izing that humanity is part of the universe. According to Spinoza, the world and God are the
same substance; there is no difference of degree between matter and the spirit.
Seen from this standpoint, the inherent perspective in Rogers’ works is intriguing. The pat-
tern of his structures can only be fully seen and appreciated from a bird’s-eye view, or from
a satellite or the perspective of an all-seeing God. The human perspective within the works
creates a rich experience at the same time as mirroring the possibility of multifarious and
even antithetical points of view.
This leads to the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci’s mathematical series based on irrational
number theory. Andrew Rogers, like countless other sculptors, artists and mathemati-Petroglyph from Betanzos in Bolivia which Circles is derived from
cians, is fascinated by this mystery that many regard as the secret of all life forms, con-
Ratio, in the
Arava Desert, situating it between his existing land sculptures. The mathematical law of the
Golden Ratio is symbolized by the Greek letter after the Greek sculptor Phidias, who is
thought to have employed it in his art. The law has also been represented by the letter T,
meaning ‘cut’. Taking as a starting
point the circular or cyclical time, on which Rogers bases his works and understanding of
life, we perceive that the beginning and end are located at the same point and that point is
precisely ‘now’.
In light of this, the runic letter Now on Mt. Vadlaheidi is interesting not only for its mean-
ing but also for its appearance. The curved line that forms the rune symbolizing time is
intersected at one point by a diagonal line. If the rune is read as a pictogram it mediates
between the ideas of time as either linear or circular. Time is curved and its beginning and
end exist on the same plane but not at the same point; moreover, the letter stands on an
imagined line which closes the circle.
Time, one of the most daunting concepts with which the human mind has ever grappled,
Spiral Jetty, 1970, which few have seen except in a photograph, is, like his other artworks and
writings, concerned partly with time and the present as subjective space. In his 1968 article
‘Sedimentation of the Mind’ he writes:
disintegrating into discrete regions of art. [...] An artist is en-
slaved by time, only if the time is controlled by someone or some-
thing other than himself. The deeper an artist sinks into the time
stream the more it becomes oblivion; because of this, he must
remain close to the temporal surfaces. Many would like to forget
time altogether, because it conceals the “death principle” (every
authentic artist knows this). Floating in this temporal river are
the remains of art history, yet the “present” cannot support the
culture of Europe, or even the archaic or primitive civilizations; it
Ratio, Arava Desert, Israel, 2006
must instead explore the pre- and post-historic mind; it must go
to the places where remote futures meet remote pasts.
(Art in Theory 1900–2000, p. 881.)
Smithson does not wish us to deny our own age in his notion of the relativity of time,
since there is no such thing as a timeless work of art; that would be a betrayal of the art-
ist. Smithson cynically united in his works the ideas of elitism and imagination in critical
opposition to the categorizations and etiquettes of modernist aesthetics. His works were
a sort of invasion of the no-man’s land between this brassbound pictorial logic and the
Andrew Rogers’ works are also the product of their time — that is, our times — despite
their inherent metaphysics and his attempt to enter the space where ‘remote futures meet
remote pasts’. Unlike Smithson’s works, Rogers’ sculptures are completely free from cyni-
values of life and creation are offered up as hope and a challenge to war, suffering, apathy
and premature death. Although Rogers is an unconventional modernist, it would not be
entirely correct to describe his works as completely at odds with the post-modernist
agenda. After the deconstruction, disintegration and destruction of the obsolete models
together again, taking motifs from different times and places, and melding them with his
own emblematic vision. He blends ancient media and modern technology, preoccupied
with the participation of those who actively engage with the works, trying to reconcile
different cultures to achieve a mutual exchange.
Rogers stresses a kind of multicultural nationalism in the spirit of Johann Gottfried Herder
(1744–1803), in which the reinforcement of the cultural identity of different nations unites
immense scale of the work, and not least the sheer joy in creation that is so refreshing,
coupled with Rogers’ ability to overcome so many boundaries and obstacles, whether
national, cultural, natural, religious, mechanical, political or social.
It would be intriguing to know what the late Icelandic poet Steinn Steinarr, quoted at the
beginning of this article, would have made of Andrew Rogers’ enterprise; whether he would
Now (runic letter)
have praised it, sent him one of his poisonous satirical verses or simply maintained a dig-
steinn means ‘stone’), he
would surely have been impressed with the artist’s material; the pulverized bones of Ýmir,
the primordial giant from whom the world was created, according to Norse myth.
Perhaps we could summarize this article in one sentence by saying that ‘everything that has
and will happen occurs right now’ and call it the ‘Bullet Theory’, not to imply any violence
but to suggest the immeasurable computational power required to grasp the notion in
mental capacity, though Andrew Rogers may well, from profound insight, have perceived
its content and with Rhythms of Life scored a bull’s eye.
But naturally, only time will tell.
Hannes Sigurdsson, Director
Akureyri Art Museum
Bunjil, Australia 2006
It might be said that Andrew Rogers is both fearless and commendably ambitious or it might
be said that he is simply Australian. In either case, a line from Anne Carson’s prose poem,
Autobiography of Red, came to mind which posed this question: “Why not rotate the inhuman
Andes at a personal angle…” This was, perhaps, the very kind of question that Rogers asked
-
strict himself to the Andes. While these part sculpture, part architecture, part drawing, part
performance hybrids are certainly indebted to the earth works of American artists Michael
Heizer and Robert Smithson and related to that of British environmental artist Richard Long,
Rogers was equally inspired by constructs such as the mysterious Nazca Lines, Stonehenge
and other monuments patinated by time and mythos. He is drawn to these ancient won-
ders because they are both sacred and functional even if that function is often a matter of
conjecture or largely symbolic and applauds the communal, anonymous, artisanal effort they
art initiatives and collaboratives of the 70s, collaborations that have made a comeback with
today’s young artists. In preparation for these projects, Rogers delves deep into the history
of each particular region and confers with local governance committees and historians, with
tribal councils and village elders, with stonemasons and other workers. He wants to know
what the people who live there think about his plans, what they want created and how they
want to use it.
He is extremely sensitive to environmental issues and always requests an environmental
impact study of the site in order not to disturb or disrupt the chosen location. He merely
wants to humanize and personalize it — and even that only temporarily. It is the juxtaposi-
tion and interaction of the man-made with nature that interests him, a human intervention
of preserving and re-vitalizing, of making contemporary what is already there. The Roman
poet Horace, who longed for that which “cannot be destroyed by gnawing rain or wild north
-
ers in agreement with him. Once the geoglyphs are installed, Rogers is pleased with the
certainty that they will evolve further, their structural integrity broken down, re-shaped and
re-arranged by the forces of the earth, by time and weather, human and non-human contact
since they, too, are collaborators and part of an ongoing process.
Rogers’ geoglyphs are comprehended in totality only from the air or — as the next best
vantage point — from a nearby outcropping of rock or mountain slope. At times, a high
staircase is built, either as a discrete sculpture, reminiscent of some of his more conventional
monuments, or incorporated into the composition of the geoglyph. The unwavering point of
view, however, is that of a spectator in a helicopter or airplane (the works are usually docu-
mented by helicopter) — or standing in the clouds with the gods. Rogers, on a mission, is
nonetheless philosophical about his enterprise, acutely aware that while the geoglyphs might
appear enormous from the ground, from above they are only a speck in the universe.
For many years, Rogers was a successful businessman who painted when he could. Although
always fascinated by art, art history and the practice of art, he was also a pragmatist. But
in the late 1980s, he asked himself, if not now, when? He answered his question by becom-
ing a full-time artist, and, in a clean sweep, abandoned painting to become a sculptor. In the
late 19th century and early 20th century masters, but in 1995, he adopted abstraction as his
preferred mode of expression. Soon after, he conceived a sculpture that would become the
visual catalyst and conceptual linchpin for almost all of his subsequent production. Called
Rhythms of Life, it was a burnished, moderately-scaled, free standing bronze sculpture rooted
in a modernist aesthetic. Secured to a rectangular pedestal, it counterpoised three elements:
egg or seed. Rhythms of Life
drawing in space it later became. With its continuous, spiraling movement and allusive bio-
morphic shapes, it was emblematic of endless cycles of generation and regeneration. Rogers
made variations of this sculpture — Rhythms of the Metropolis (2000) installed at Hebrew Uni-
versity in Jerusalem and Rhythms of the Andes (2000), installed at the base of Machu Picchu in
Peru — but soon returned to the original Rhythms of Life image as a more universal metaphor,
building one in bronze for the Victorian Art Centre in Melbourne and one for Jerusalem in
Rhythms of Life as a geoglyph
in the Arava Desert in Israel, near Jordan and the Nabatean ruins. Measuring 4.5 meters in
height and 29 x 24 meters in breadth, it was made from limestone blocks quarried nearby
Andrew Rogers, Bolivia 2005
that weighed up to 1.5 tons. It was his sculptural image re-interpreted as a raised outline,
converted into a relief drawing in greatly expanded form and became the prototype for all
the geoglyph Rhythms that followed as well as the “logo” for the projects.
artist-in-residence at Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, the possibility of the
challenged an Australian’s sense of measure and he searched for a resolution that would be
equal in presence, commensurate with the desert’s grandeur. Suddenly, the idea of a modern
geoglyph came to him and after much consideration, he decided that the word “chai” (life)
written in Hebrew letters would be the most appropriate and most resonant emblem. As
Rogers would do in all his subsequent geoglyph projects, he employed a local crew. This
one consisted of Israelis, Bedouins and Arabs who worked with him on the construction
— harmoniously, he points out — gathering countless, differently shaped stones taken from
a wadi in the vicinity to make the 38 x 38 meter square. The response to both works was
so positive that Rogers was commissioned to place a third geoglyph in the vicinity. This was
Slice (2003), which depicted a giant cross-section of a seashell and referred to the geological
time when the Arava was underwater. Thematically, all three works were dedicated to the
continuity and ripeness of life, to the concept of unbroken generations — evoking the litany
of Old Testament begats — and to the history of the land. This theme was reiterated in
Celebration of Life, a dedicatory event that took place in October, 2003, in which a long line
of young women dressed in dazzling white, pregnant bellies exposed, edged the surface of To
Life, living evidence that, as promised, the desert had bloomed.
Rogers continues to make the exhilarating bronze sculptures that are essential to his aes-
thetic, including editions and variations of his signature Rhythms of Life and Flora Exemplar,
that are the most encompassing, combining as they do other cultures and people, multiple
disciplines, collaboration, huge scale and the ability to introduce art into a larger context,
into remote, often untouched locations of swooning, spellbinding splendor away from jangled
cities and the enclosures of galleries and museums. Rogers, an adventurer by temperament,
His next geoglyphs took him to another desert, the Atacama in Chile, considered one of the
driest places on earth, said to have been without rain for 200 years. Located in the beauti-
Unveiling Ceremony, Sri Lanka 2005
fully named Plain of Patience at the end of the Valley of the Moon close to the town of San
Pedro, the site is not that far from the famous Nazca Lines in Peru. Over the course of two
years, ending in September, 2004, with a crew of 550 Atacamians, Rogers constructed three
enormous geoglyphs, Ancient Language, The Ancient, and Rhythms of Life
petroglyphs dating from c. 900-800 BCE that are found in abundance in the area, an incorp-
Ancient Language rep-
licates — in greatly enlarged format — a petroglyph of a delightfully naïf two-headed llama
on stick legs scratched into the reddish rock face, one head turned up, one stretched down-
ward, its sausage-shaped body tunneled by a serrated pattern that suggests a sign for water
and appeared to striking effect against the burnt earth of the desert. The Ancient is modeled
rising from its lower right edge, to give the viewer elevation but it also resembles an altar, a
Rhythms of
Life is sited on a high mountainous ledge and blends well with the wild and rugged terrain
that surrounds it. Rogers, who for ideological and practical reasons prefers local materials,
used the readily available guano and clay to bind the geoglyphs’ trapezoidally shaped volcanic
rock walls, in the Incan manner.
Rogers returned to Israel and the Arava in October to build Ratio, a minimalist monument
of glistening white, limestone blocks. Gilded at the edges, its measurements and system
of stacking were based on the golden mean which in turn was derived from the Fibonacci
sequence. The squared stones in Ratio were cut like those in the Western Wall in Jerusalem
and rises to a height of 8 meters.
Rogers next project took him to the Altiplano in Bolivia near the town of Potosi in the spring
of 2005. Another breathtaking site, this one soars to 4500 meters, his highest to date and the
highest contemporary art site of its size in the world, the artist claims. He installed another
three geoglyphs, each 100 x 100 meters: Circles; Shaman and Rhythms of Life, built on the sharp
-
pretation of similar rings inscribed on a petroglyph discovered in the area. Shaman, of yellow
of the rock and meant to represent the noumena of the site. Rogers employed 750 workers
for this project — including 500 women, all of whom wore vividly colored traditional aprons,
their heads shielded by straw hats, adding a festive note to the proceedings. He visited the
workers at home and became acquainted with the people in the villages. For him, this was An ancient petroglyph of a shaman in San Antonia, Bolivia which Presence is based on
one of the great pleasures of these projects. Rogers learned to communicate with his hands,
describing the shapes he wanted with gestures although, he admitted with a laugh, gestures
can be misunderstood. Each day for four weeks, everyone made the arduous one hour trek
up the mountain carrying stones and other supplies by hand. In accordance with Atacamian
custom, there was an opening ceremony as well as a closing one. For the initial rite, a shaman
blessed the site by slaughtering a llama, sprinkling its blood on the ground and burying its or-
2000 people, with traditional dancing, the music echoing in the mountains late into the night.
That autumn Rogers was in tropical, humid Kurunegala in Sri Lanka where another three
geoglyphs were installed. Ascend, a steep grey granite stairway based once again on the
Fibonacci series was situated on Elephant Rock, an escarpment rising high above a blue lake
and verdant valley. The workers, forming a human chain steadied by rope ladders, relayed
each stone by hand and then laid them in place. Pride
stylized lion, taken from an equally ornate, high-stepping lion in a local folk painting. And, to
brand the installation and synthesize its message, there was a Rhythms of Life. For Kurunegala,
Rogers had invited a doctor to join him. The doctor was meant to succor injured workers
but instead, ended up tending the ailments of the villagers since there were limited medical
facilities in the area. For Rogers, this also validated his idea of art as something performa-
tive, rooted in the community and part of daily life (reminiscent of the Russian avant-garde’s
rallying cry of “Art into Life”). His conception of art includes the entire process, not merely
and untouchable. This project also had an opening ceremony: a procession of folk dancers
bedecked elephants as a prologue to the feasting and dancing.
In February of 2006, Rogers completed two important geoglyphs in Australia. For You Yangs
Regional Park, Victoria, he created a majestic wedge tail eagle with a 100-meter wingspan,
an aboriginal image from the Dream Time and named it Bunjil, after the Great Ancestor
Spirit, the supreme god and creator of the Kulin and Wurunjerri peoples who taught them
the arts and they in turn taught mankind. In addition, Rogers completed a 100-meter white
limestone Rhythms of Life geoglyph in Geelong, Victoria. He did this with the help of the
Unveiling ceremony, China 2006
Wathaurong people, who have lived in this area for thousands of years. The project opened
with a ceremony for Bunjil in which eucalyptus leaves were burned, their smoke wafting over
the site as a benison while indigenous dancers and musicians performed.
Rogers was invited to Iceland in June where he created another 100-meter winged eagle.
The location was again spectacular, near Akureyri, the northernmost town in Iceland and
straddled Eyjafjordur, a fjord about 60 kilometers from the Arctic Circle. A guardian symbol,
the eagle’s wingspan could touch both sides of the fjord according to Icelandic legend and
Rogers links it to Bunjil, the aboriginal ancestor spirit. As was customary by now, he con-
structed another three-part invention, this time from the profusion of brown volcanic boul-
ders on site, the eagle joined by a representation of a Viking rune that is the character for
“now” (reminiscent of the Hebraic “chai” he made for the Arava) and a Rhythms of Life. In
this installation, he particularly wanted to call attention to changes in the glaciers caused by
including the now endangered eagles whose numbers are dwindling alarmingly.
Environmental issues also informed his latest venture in another remote, formerly pristine
region of the world, the fabled Gobi Desert. At the foot of the Qilian Mountains near
the western terminus of the Great Wall of China, Rogers produced three new, even more
pumped-up geoglyphs, all built by manual labor which minimized pollution as opposed to
the pollution caused by frenetic, indiscriminate industrialization. The man power was pro-
vided by 1000 soldiers from the Chinese army, assigned to help him construct the massive
installation. The walls of The Messenger (based on a wall drawing found in a tomb from
the Weijing period) and The Caveman (derived from a 476-221 BCE petroglyph found on
Heishan, a mountain near Jiayuguan) totaled 4 kilometers in length if laid out in a straight
line and overall measured 150 meters by 150 meters. Rhythms of Life had also grown to 200
meters, twice as big as the biggest previous manifestations. Again, an enthusiastic celebra-
tion marked the unveiling with, as Rogers described it, a 400 piece drum corps and brass
Rogers said that he plans to create 12 such sites around the world and has now completed
It will be in the vicinity of Jaipur in Rajasthan and is scheduled for unveiling by the end of
February, 2007. Other projects are being negotiated in the United States, the United King-
The tomb of an emperor of the Wei-Jin Dynasty in China where the drawing for The Messenger comes from
dom, Eastern and Western Europe and Tibet. Rogers explained that he regards each of his
in a global connection that is a metaphor for harmonious community, a kind of world-wide
web.
Rogers believes that accelerating environmental changes with their potentially catastrophic
consequences are much less avoidable these days and therefore much more heeded. Hope-
fully, he is right. Since the inception of his geoglyphs, it has been one of the artist’s purposes
to point to the irreplaceable beauties of the earth, both existent and man-made. By creating
contemporary megaliths as markers, Rogers insists on the need to preserve this natural and
artistic heritage for ourselves and for the future.
Rogers confessed that one part of him always wanted to wrestle with nature, to channel
the spiritual and ride the invisible forces of the cosmos. But ultimately, after an installation is
to nature’s irresistible embrace, all questions stilled as everything else falls away except a
bearable, unbearable lightness of being.
Lilly Wei
Work in progress: Ancients, Chile 2004
Rhythms of Life, April 2001
Geoglyph, 29 x 24 metres (95 x 79 ft.)
To Life (Chai), March 1999
Geoglyph, 38 x 33 metres (125 x 108 ft.)
Slice, March 2003
Geoglyph, 80 x 38.15 metres (262 x 125 ft.)
Ratio, October 2004
Stone structure, 8 x 32 metres (26 x 105 ft.)
Celebration of Life (Rhythms of Life)
October 2003
Celebration of Life (To Life)
October 2003
Celebration of Life (Slice)
October 2003
In Israel, the Rhythms of Life site stretches over one square kilometre (0.386 square mile) near ancient Nabatean ruins
and a spice route from antiquity. It comprises three geoglyphs: To Life, Rhythms of Life and Slice. An additional stone
structure, Ratio, was completed in 2004, based on the proportions of the ‘Golden Ratio’. It is located on a mountain
top not far from Sapir.
Rhythms of Life
Geoglyph, 40 x 30 metres long (131 x 98 ft.)
The Ancients
Geoglyph, 90 metres long (295 ft.)
Ancient Language
Geoglyph, 80 metres long (263 ft.)
In Chile, the Rhythms of Life site measures one and a half square kilometres (0.7 square mile) and rises to an elevation of
2,603 metres (8,540 ft). It starts in an exotic location, Llano de la Paciencia (the Plain of Patience) in the Atacama Desert,
the driest desert on Earth and spreads in an easterly direction, climbing the Cordillera de la Sal (Salt Mountain Range) at
the head of the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). Within this site are three geoglyphs entitled Ancient Language, The
Ancients and Rhythms of Life.
The Ancients is based on a 6,000-year-old petroglyph known as El Señor de los Báculos, found in the Rio Loa area near
Calama. Located on the Plain of Patience at an altitude of 2,469 metres (8,100 ft.) above sea level, 13 kilometres from the
town of San Pedro, its stone walls are 1,200 metres (3,937 ft.) long. They are made of volcanic rock and clay .
Rhythms of Life is located at an altitude of 2,603 metres (8,540 ft.) on the Salt Mountain Range, which rises from the Plain
of Patience and forms the head of the Valley of the Moon, a lunar-like geological formation approximately 14 kilometres
from the town of San Pedro.
Ancient Language is inspired by a 4,800-year-old petroglyph carved into stone in the surrounding area, Yerbas Buenos, 20
kilometres from the Rio Grande. This geoglyph is 80 metres (263 ft.) long and 2.8 metres (9 ft.) high.
Ancient Languages (satellite image: altitude of 450 kilometres)
Rhythms of life
Geoglyph, 100 x 100 metres (328 x 328 ft.)
Presence
Geoglyph, 100 x 100 metres (328 x 328 ft.)
Circles
Geoglyph, 100 metres in diameter (328 ft.)
In Bolivia there are three stone geoglyphs reaching an altitude of 4,360 metres (14,300 ft.). They are located six
kilometres (3.7 miles) apart and are visible from one another due to the clear atmosphere at this altitude. These
geoglyphs were constructed with the help of 800 workers, many of whom were women carrying babies on their
backs. Presence is derived from local petroglyphs of a shaman in Cerro Isipina, San Antonio, while Circles is inspired
ceremony to consecrate the ground and the creation of the geoglyphs.
Rhythms of Life (satellite image: altitude of 450 kilometres)
Circles and Presence (satellite image: altitude of 450 kilometres)
Rhythms of Life
Geoglyph, 60 x 60 metres (196 x 196 ft.)
Pride (Lion)
Geoglyph, 60 x 60 metres (196 x 196 ft.)
Ascend
Sculpture, 6.5 x 6.5 metres (21 x 21 ft.)
In Sri Lanka two geoglyphs and one stone structure, Ascend, are located 3.5 kilometres (c. 2 miles) apart, around a
lake. They stand on sacred monoliths that rise 350 metres (1,148 ft.) above ground level.
Rhythms of Life
Geoglyph, 100 x 90 metres (328 x 295 ft.)
Bunjil
Geoglyph, 100 x 100 metres (328 x 328 ft.)
In Geelong, Australia, Rhythms of Life and Bunjil (the Wedge-tailed Eagle) were erected for the You Yangs National Park
on the occasion of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Rhythms of Life is constructed of hard limestone found in the
area. On the Bunjil geoglyph, the largest rock weighs approximately 12 tonnes and features a carving of Bunjil, the
great ancestral spirit who created the Kulin land. He made the animals and the plants and taught the people how to
behave on earth. He also taught them how to conduct the ceremonies that would ensure the continuation of life.
The rock points towards the You Yangs Mountains where the Rhythms of Life sculpture is located.
The Eagle Petroglyph featured on the largest rock in the Geoglyph Bunjil points towards the You Yangs Mountains where Rhythms of Life is located
Bunjil (satellite image: altitude of 450 kilometres)
Rhythms of Life (satellite image: altitude of 450 kilometres)
Rhythms of Life
Geoglyph, 100 x 100 metres (328 x 328 ft.)
The Eagle
Geoglyph, 100 x 100 metres (328 x 328 ft.)
Now (runic letter)
Geoglyph, 100 x 100 metres (328 x 328 ft.)
Celebration of Life (Rhythms of Life)
September 2006
With a population mainly of Norse and Celtic origin, Iceland was settled by Vikings in 874 AD. The town of Akureyri
sits on “top of the world,” only 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Arctic Circle. The most glaciated country in
Europe, Iceland lies on the divide between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. This volatile region of
the earth’s crust undergoes constant geological activity, giving rise to frequent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and
The Rhythms of Life site straddles Eyjafjordur (Fjord of Isles), which opens into the far north of the Atlantic Ocean. The
construction was carried out in temperatures ranging from -1 to 10°C, sometimes in snowy conditions. The Eagle
derives from Icelandic mythology and is the emblem of Akureyri and one of the four guardian spirits on the Icelandic
coat of arms, the others being the Bull (west), Dragon (east) and Giant (south). The runic letter Now is positioned on
the slopes of Mt. Vadlaheidi, across the fjord from Akureyri where the two other geoglyphs are located.
Rhythms of Life
Geoglyph, 200 x 200 metres (658 x 658 ft.)
The Messenger
Geoglyph, 150 x 150 metres (493 x 493 ft.)
The Caveman
Geoglyph, 150 x 150 metres (493 x 493 ft.)
One thousand soldiers from the Chinese Army were enlisted to create three large geoglyphs consisting of
approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) of rock walls, weighing thousands of tonnes. The remote site is located in
the Gobi Desert facing the snow-capped Qilian Mountains at an elevation of 2,000 metres (6000 ft.). The location
adjoins a UNESCO World Heritage area and is adjacent to the Western Beacon and terminus of the Great Wall of
China, the largest man-made structure on earth at 6,400 kilometres (3,976 miles) long.
The Caveman derives from a petroglyph dating from 476-221 BC, located in the Heishan Mountains north-west of
Jiayuguan city. The Messenger comes from a drawing found near the geoglyphs in the tomb of an emperor of the Wei-
Jin Dynasty dating from 220-265 AD. The geoglyphs were unveiled to the sound of the 450 drummers of the Chinese
Army band, which includes drums over 2 metres in diameter.
Caveman (satellite image: altitude of 450 kilometres)
Tíminn er eins og vatnið,
og vatnið er kalt og djúpt
eins og vitund mín sjálfs.
Og tíminn er eins og mynd,
sem er máluð af vatninu
og mér til hálfs.
Og tíminn og vatnið
renna veglaust til þurrðar
inn í vitund mín sjálfs.
Steinn SteinarrTíminn og vatnið, 1956
Ástralski skúlptúristinn Andrew Rogers er á góðri leið með að stimpla sig inn
í listasöguna með risastórum grjótgörðum (e. geoglyphs) sem koma til með
sem hann afréð að skapa eru sjö orðin að veruleika, þar af eitt á Akureyri.
Ævintýrið hófst í Arava-eyðimörkinni í Ísrael í mars 1999 þar sem hann
reisti fjögur útilistaverk næstu árin. Drjúgur tími leið þar til verkefnið teygði
anga sína til annarra landa en þá rak hvert stórvirkið annað. Næst í röðinni
var eitt mesta þurrkasvæði jarðar, Atacama-eyðimörkin í Chile (september
2004). Fljótlega á eftir fylgdu Cerro Rico-fjallahéruðin í Bólivíu (mars
2005), Sri Lanka (nóvember 2005), skammt frá borginni Kurunegala þar
sem búa hátt í þrjátíu milljónir manna, You Yangs-þjóðgarðurinn í Ástralíu
(febrúar 2006), Akureyri og nágrenni (september 2006) og nú síðast Góbí-
eyðimörkin í Kína gegnt Qilian-fjallabeltinu við vesturenda Kínamúrsins
(október 2006).
Samheitið á þessu heljarinnar jarðlistarverkefni er Lífstakturinn (Rythms of
Life) og samanstendur hvert myndverk vanalega af þremur steingörðum eða
táknum. Heitið er dregið af höggmynd sem Rogers gerði fyrst árið 1996 og
gengur eins og rauður þráður gegnum allt verkefnið sem nær nú til fjögurra
heimsálfa. Hin tvö táknin tengjast viðkomandi svæði, eru öll ævaforn og
eftir óþekkta höfunda, það elsta byggt á 6000 ára gamalli hellaristu í Chile.
hvert frá öðru. Flest verkin eru reist utan alfaraleiðar á friðhelgum stöðum
og við gerð þeirra hafa verið notuð þúsund tonna af grjóti. Garðarnir eru
gerð táknmyndanna (550 í Chile, 750 í Bólivíu, 850 á Sri Lanka og 1000 í
Kína) í afar mismunandi landslagi sem nær allt frá hafsbotni á 200 metra
Bólivíu). Hitastigið hefur rokkað frá –1°C (Ísland) upp í 45 gráður (Ísrael)
og á hæstu stöðum hefur stundum þurft að takast á við þunnt loft og
Rogers vinnur gjarnan með tveimur ísraelskum arkitektum, Tidhar Becker
og Golan Levi, sem sjá um að teikna verkin upp í hárnákvæmum hlutföllum
með hjálp GPS-tækni og gervihnattamynda. Aragrúi hæla er rekinn í jörðina
og þeir tengdir saman með böndum til að marka fyrir verkunum þannig að
fjarvíddin helst kórrétt séð ofan frá þrátt fyrir að verkin séu oft staðsett í
miklum halla. Hvert verkefni hefur sitt svipmót; grjótgarðarnir geta verið úr
300–600 kg steinum upp í 4–5 tonna björg, hlaðnir frá 50 cm upp í fjögurra
metra hæð, þétt og massíft eða nokkuð gisið. Stærstu hnullungarnir vega
tólf tonn í verkinu Bunjil ( ) sem Rogers gerði í til-
efni Samveldisleikanna í Melbourne 2006.
Allt á sinn upphafspunkt og Lífstakturinn er þar engin undantekning; hvar
draga skal línuna er hins vegar önnur saga. Árið 1980 ákvað Rogers, þá
metnaðarfullur og farsæll fjármálasérfræðingur, að söðla um og beina
kröftum sínum að þrívíðri listsköpun, ekki ólíkt og verðbréfasalinn Paul
Gauguin gerði rúmum 130 árum á undan honum í rómantískri þrá sinni
eftir hinu ósnortna og upprunalega. Og líkt og Gauguin hefur það leitt hann
fjölskyldu sína, þökk sé tæknivæddum stálfuglum nútímans. Áður hafði Rogers
af verkum Rodins einbeitti hann sér að því að ná valdi á þrívíðri formmótun
mannslíkamans. Árið 1995 skipti hann um gír í listsköpun sinni og fígúratíf
afstraksjón tók við af fígúratífu raunsæi. Bronsskúlptúrar Rogers hverfast þó
enn sem fyrr um lífskjarnann, anda mannsins, sköpunina, vöxtinn, hjartslátt
tilverunnar og hringrás lífsins. Lífræn form og hrynjandi eru áberandi þáttur
iðulega gróður jarðar eða ávöl líkamsform konunnar.
Rogers byrjar á því að teikna hugmyndir sínar niður á blað og gerir síðan
60 cm frummynd af verkinu. Margar frummyndanna eru síðan stækkaðar
upp í allt að 4–5 metra verk og gerð í allt að tólf eintökum hvert. Eitt af
þekktari bronsverkum Rogers nefnist Flora Exemplar (1996) og má segja að
í því nái hann að tjá grunnkjarna sýnar sinnar á tilveruna í myndmáli sem
allir skilja og þarfnast engra útskýringa. Lífrænt form sem hefur tilvísun í
jurt vex upp móti himni og sól um leið og það hneigir sig í vindingi til jarðar.
Þótt dauðinn og þjáningin leiki sitt hlutverk í skúlptúrum Rogers þá er það
Flora Exemplar er
nú til í níu eintökum víðs vegar um heiminn ásamt fjölda annarra skúlptúra
eftir Rogers sem allir eru tileinkaðir þemanu Lífstaktinum.
Andrew Rogers hreifst af Arava-eyðimörkinni í Ísrael á landamærum
Jórdaníu, sem hann kynntist þegar hann samdi um að gera stóra afsteypu
af Flora Exemplar fyrir Sapir, umsjónarmiðstöð þjóðgarðsins, árið 1996 og
hóf hann þá þegar undirbúning að fyrsta stóra jarðlistaverkinu. Árið 1999
reisti hann verkið Chai sem er myndað með samsetningu tveggja hebreskra
árs arkitektanema, tveggja ísraelskra verkfræðinga og tuttugu arabískra
fagmanna í steinhleðslu sem unnu tólf tíma á dag.
Þegar verkinu var lokið tengdi Rogers táknmyndina við daglegt líf og tímgun
mannsins með því að ljósmynda 42 barnshafandi konur sem stilltu sér
upp í sameiningu á verkinu. Strax við gerð þessa fyrsta jarðlistaverks vissi
bronsskúlptúr hans af Lífstaktinum var settur upp í Melbourne, tók hann
að útfæra útlínur þessa skúlptúrs sem upphleypta teikningu í sandauðninni.
Þriðja verkið í Arava og það stærsta fylgdi í kjölfarið, Slice (80 x 38 m), og
sýnir það stílfærða sneiðmynd af kuðungi. Þetta verk vísar til þess að Arava-
eyðimörkin er forn sjávarbotn þar sem úir og grúir af steingervingum.
Andrew Rogers hafði haft augastað á Íslandi fyrir verkefni sitt þegar hann
hitti myndhöggvarann Steinunni Þórarinsdóttur á hinni árlegu útilistahátíð
Sculpture by the Sea í Sydney 2004 og bað hana um að koma sér í samband
við áhugasama aðila. Steinunn skaut tölvupósti á undirritaðan sem lék strax
verið jákvætt fyrir Akureyrarbæ. Ekki óraði þó nokkurn mann fyrir hversu
viðamikið verkefni væri hér á ferðinni fyrr en til kastanna kom, eða hversu
hinum stöðunum var gengið út frá því að reistar yrðu þrjár táknmyndir í
nánd við hver aðra í náttúru utan byggða. Rogers vildi að heimamenn, helst
þau tvö tákn sem ættu að standa með Lífstaktinum og vísa til lands og þjóðar.
Önnur táknmyndin, Akureyrarörninn
í skjaldarmerki bæjarins, ættaður úr Heimskringlu og meðal verndarvætta
landsins.
Seinna táknið var aðeins lengur að fæðast og þurfti næstum að taka með
keisaraskurði. Rogers sóttist eftir tákni sem risti djúpt í sögu þjóðarinnar
og hefði óræða goðfræðilega skírskotun. Þrátt fyrir 1132 ára byggð í landinu
er fátt um fína drætti þegar kemur að gömlu myndefni sem hægt er að kalla
séríslenskt. Fólksfæð, gróðurleysi og harðindi gerðu það að verkum að fyrri
kynslóðir skildu lítið annað eftir sig en gulnuð handrit — reyndar merkustu
fornbókmenntir Evrópu, Íslendingasögurnar — og því má með sanni segja
það meðal annarra þjóða.
Leitað var ráða hjá Þóru Kristjánsdóttur á Þjóðminjasafni Íslands og dr.
Þórgunni Snædal við Stofnun þjóðminjavarðar í Stokkhólmi, okkar helsta
sérfræðings í rúnaletri. Eftir talsverðar bollaleggingar var álitið þjóðlegast að
halda sig við gamla rún, táknletur sótt í ævafornan samgermanskan arf. En hvað
rúnin ætti að segja var enn óleyst ráðgáta þar til hugmyndinni laust skyndilega
niður hausinn á mér eins og eldingu: Nú. Hvað gæti verið meira viðeigandi
en að greypa hugtakið um líðandi stund, núið, með grjóthnullungum í tíu
milljóna ára gamalt fjall til að tjá eitt eilífðar andartak á eldgömlu rúnamáli.
Rogers samþykkti uppástunguna á stundinni. Meðan hugmyndavinnan stóð
tveimur mánuðum áður en framkvæmdir hófust, í nógu að snúast. Rogers
tók ekki í mál að fresta verkefninu fram til ársins 2007; hann vildi að það
gerðist sem fyrst, eftir aðeins nokkra mánuði, núna!
Til verksins þurfti vinnuvélar, landmælingamenn með nákvæm tæki,
verkamenn og steinhleðslumenn. Rogers hafði valið tvær staðsetningar:
í Fálkafelli, neðan við skátaheimilið og í Hlíðarfjalli, undir Mannshrygg og
nauðsynlegt var að fá samþykki bæjarstjórnar fyrir því að setja verkin þar
niður. Slík beiðni hafði aldrei borist fyrr og ekki til neinar vinnureglur eða
starfsferlar til að fara eftir. Vegna þriðju staðsetningarinnar, í Vaðlaheiði,
í Halllandi og við tók svipað ferli í hreppsnefndinni og hjá Akureyrarbæ.
Fundað var með Náttúrufræðistofnun að beiðni Norðurorku sem vildi fá
umsögn með tilliti til þess að staðsetningin í Hlíðarfjalli er á verndarsvæði
sem hefur að geyma helsta vatnsból bæjarins. Umsögnin var neikvæð þar
verkefninu og Akureyrarbær gaf því grænt ljós á framkvæmdina að uppfylltum
ákveðnum skilyrðum.
Auglýsa þurfti verkefnið með grenndarkynningu og gefa íbúum svæðisins
tilhlýðilegan frest til að koma með athugasemdir áður en hægt var að ákveða
reyndust fullbókaðir langt fram í tímann. Tveir eigendur vinnuvéla féllust á að
bæta verkefninu við sig og urðu þeir að verða sér úti um sérstakar grjótklær
á beltagröfurnar, en slíkar klær fyrirfundust ekki á landinu og þurfti að sækja til
Hlíðarfjalli og Fálkafelli, en samþykktin var þó ekki einróma.
Þegar Andrew Rogers kom til landsins og ætlaði að taka til hendinni varð
ljóst að landmælingamenn á vegum Akureyrarbæjar höfðu skammtað of
naumt svæði, ísraelsku arkitektarnir á vegum Rogers fengu vægt áfall þegar
þeir sáu hvað lítið var af steinum á staðnum og ekki bætti kuldabolinn og
slagviðrið sem heilsaði þeim við komuna frá Tel Aviv úr skák. Ákveðið var
að fækka verkamönnum enn frekar, bæta við vélum og setja niður steina
með reglulegu millibili í stað þess að hlaða veggi, ekki ósvipað útfærslu
Rogers á verkunum í Ástralíu. Útkoman minnir dálítið á málverk Chucks
Close þannig að úr góðri fjarlægð má auðveldlega greina táknin sem
heildstæða mynd en þegar komið er upp að þeim renna þau mismikið
saman við landslagið. Áhorfendur sem koma af fjöllum og vita ekkert um
tilurð verkanna gætu haldið að einkennilega geometrísk staðsetning vissra
steina væri jafnvel náttúruleg tilviljun.
staðsetningu verksins hafði aðeins verið hnikað vegna áhyggna sveitar-
stjórnarmanna af mörkum vatnsverndarsvæðisins. Endanleg staðsetning
verkanna varð sú að Örninn er í Hlíðarfjalli, steinsnar frá skíðaskálanum,
rúnin Nú efst á Vaðlaheiði og Lífstakturinn í Fálkafelli. Tveir ástralskir
kvikmyndatökumenn fylgdu Rogers eftir hvert fótmál næstu þrjár vikurnar,
en gerðar hafa verið heimildarmyndir um hvert og eitt þessara verkefna
jarðlistaverkunum var lokið leigði Rogers þyrlu eins og venja hans er
og lét skrásetja garðana með aðstoð Páls Stefánssonar ljósmyndara.
Fimmtán barnshafandi íslenskar konur sem auglýst var eftir leyfðu þeim að
ljósmynda sig í bak og fyrir ofan á Lífstaktinum og létu þær ekki hitastigið,
listaverki. (Það er alltént endingarbetra en postulínsstyttur Jeffs Koons og
sennilegt að þessir íslensku fulltrúar úr steinaríkinu eigi eftir að standa
óhaggaðir í marga mannsaldra.)
Allt umstangið í kringum verkefnið á Íslandi, ásamt pappírsmúrum hins
Rogers hefur orðið að takast á við annars staðar enda er íslenski hlutinn
langminnstur í sniðum. Framtakið minnir um sumt á útiverkin sem
hjónin Christo og Jeanne-Claude hafa gert víða um heim síðan snemma
á áttunda áratugnum, að minnsta kosti hvað umfang varðar, en þar endar
líka samanburðurinn að mestu leyti. Þau vinna með ýmiss konar manngerð
efni og fjarlægja öll vegsummerki eftir tiltekinn tíma meðan Rogers nýtir
sér hráefni náttúrunnar, ótilhöggvið grjót, og kemur því fyrir til frambúðar.
sögu, og því má segja að visst lífrænt ferli eigi sér stað, en Christo og Jeanne-
Claude virðast stóla meira á eigin hugmyndir við útfærslu verkanna sem
leyna hvorki uppruna sínum né nýstárleika; hver veit nema sagnfræðingar 23.
aldar gætu dregið þá ályktun að verk Rogers væru mörg þúsund ára gömul
ef heimurinn færist í hrikalegum náttúruhamförum og fátt annað stæði eftir.
Listamennirnir bera hins vegar allir mikla virðingu fyrir náttúrunni og því
nema sjálft verkið. Annars væri ólíklegt að hann hefði fengið að vaða uppi
með áform sín í Góbí-eyðimörkinni í Kína, á þeim slóðum þar sem Marco
Polo (f. 1254) rétt missti svo að segja af Genghis Khan (d. 1227), enda svæðið
á heimsminjaskrá UNESCO. Komist síðari kynslóðir að annarri niðurstöðu
um verkin er örugglega hægt að afbyggja þau og koma svæðunum í sitt
fyrra, náttúrulega horf.
Hið mikla jarðlistarverkefni Andrews Rogers er eitt hið stærsta, ef ekki
það alstærsta, sem ráðist hefur verið í og eru þá Stonehenge á Bretlandi
eða Nazca-línurnar í Perú ekki undanskilin. Verkefnið hefur meðvitað á
sér fornan blæ og vísar svo langt aftur í eldgráa fortíð og fjarlæga framtíð
að öll tímamörk missa í rauninni merkingu sína. Fáir ef nokkrir listamenn
hafa seilst lengra aftur í póstmódernískri endurnýtingu á sögunni þannig
að hugtakið „listnám“ (e. appropriation) á vart lengur við og ekki er heldur
með góðu móti hægt að tala um „listlíki“ (þ. Kitsch) sem gjarnan er notað
til að lýsa plebbalegu dúlludóti neyslusamfélagsins, inntaksleysi þess og
gjörspilltum fáránleika smekkleysunnar.
Jarðverk Rogers eru vægast sagt tröllvaxin, þrungin merkingu, staðföst,
getað verið gerð fyrr en á okkar tímum. Þau bera því einnig glöggt vitni að
jörð þegar hann raðar kasólettum konum upp á verk sín þvert ofan í allan
pólitískan rétttrúnað. Satt best að segja er verkefnið fullkomlega úr takti við
tímann því svona gera ekki þeir kúnstnerar sem fara samviskusamlega eftir
hans ef þeir vilja láta taka sig alvarlega. Andrew Rogers er öðruvísi. Og það
er eimitt þetta sem gerir verk hans áhugaverð, þau skapa skýra viðmiðun
við óreiðuna, hið duttlungafulla, hverfula og tilgangslausa sem svo mikið
hefur verið látið með á undanförnum árum.
Þó kastar fyrst tólfunum þegar kemur að þeim trúarlega eða andlega
undirtón sem býr í verkum Rogers en hann telst forboðinn og hafa leiðtogar
skynseminnar á borð við Richard Dawkins og Daniel C. Dennett keppst við
að berja það inn í hausinn á öllu upplýstu fólki að ekki megi koma nálægt
honum. Ekki svo að skilja að Rogers sé neitt sérstaklega guðhræddur en í
heimi grasserandi veraldarhyggju mætti halda að hann væri einhvers konar
öfgafullur bókstafstrúarmaður. Verk hans hvíla á trúarlegum grunni lægsta
fremur en rökhugsunar og vélgengis minnir á hugmyndir Rousseaus áður en
jarðmóðurdýrkun) urðu allsráðandi. Lífheimspekin (þ. Lebensphilosophie)
sem lýtur lögmálum eilífrar hringrásar. Andrökhyggja lífheimspekinnar greinir
lífheimspekinnar virðist kallast á við lýsingar Rogers á eigin lífssýn þá eru
verkin talandi dæmi um rökvísi, tækni og stöðugleika. Þau eru augljóslega
gerð til að endast von úr viti þrátt fyrir þá vitneskju að allt er niðurbroti
og eyðingu háð í heiminum. Fallvaltleiki lífsins, sem verkin snúast um, er í
hrópandi ósamræmi við óbrotgjarnt efni þeirra. Aðall listarinnar er hins
vegar að reyna að klófesta tímann og hvaðeina mannlegt sem hægt er að
tengja við hann og því mætti segja að þversögnin hjá Rogers sé svo gríðarleg
Rogers leggur auðsjáanlega hugmyndina um sköpun listamannsins og
tímgun mannkynsins fram sem hliðstæður. Þetta er mjög kunnuglegt
minni úr sögunni. Snillingar fortíðarinnar voru þeir andans menn sem
höfðu vald á rökhugsun, náðu meistaratökum á efni og gátu af sér mikla
list. Efnið sjálft lagði ekki neitt til sköpunarinnar á sama hátt og konan
lagði í skilningi Aristótelesar ekkert til barnsins nema sjálfa sig sem efni
meðan karlmaðurinn lagði til sæðið sem bar í sér sköpunina. Á rómantíska
tímanum breyttust þessar hugmyndir um sköpun þegar eiginleikar órökvísi
voru loksins teknir með í reikninginn og þeim gert hátt undir höfði. Miklir
listamenn eru þá myndhverfðir sem konur, þeir verða þungaðir af andanum
listaverksins sem ekki fær séð dagsins ljós nema með harmkvælum, blóði
og tárum.
Nietzsche sagði að það væru til tvær gerðir listamanna, þeir sem vilji geta
af sér og hinir sem vilji frjóvgast og fæða af sér. Í Fæðingu harmleiks (1872)
sjáum við allar þessar hugmyndir í sátt og samlyndi; hann vinnur verkin,
hugmyndir og útfærslu, bæði einn og með mörgum. Hann upphefur bæði
anda og efni en andinn frjóvgar ekki efnið frekar en að efnið getur af sér
andann. Órökvísin er sett fram af rökvísi, höfundurinn er óvéfengjanlegur
en samt ósýnilegur, ástríður eru reiknaðar út og mældar með aðstoð
gervitungla.
Áhugi rómantíkurinnar á hinu kvenlega og fæðingu sem táknmynd hins
skapandi listamanns hafði ekkert að gera með áhuga á raunverulegum konum
og raunverulegum fæðingum enda er hugmyndafræði þessa tímabils talin ein
sú kvenfjandsamlegasta í mannkynssögunni. Rogers myndar barnshafandi
konur á Lífstaktinum sem undirstrikar að hann er að fjalla um fyrirbærin
tímgun og sköpun sem eitt og sama lífshugtakið en ekki táknmyndir fyrir
hvort annað. Á sama hátt og náttúruverndarsinnar geta orðið órólegir
gagnvart verki sem er óður til náttúrunnar gætu kvenréttindasinnar verið
tortryggnir gagnvart því að kvenlíkaminn sé notaður, jafnvel þótt það sé
gert í göfugum tilgangi. Upphafning ákveðinna eðliseiginleika kvenna (einnig
kynþátta og stétta) hefur ósjaldan í sögunni verið notuð sem kúgunartæki.
Að konur fæði börn verður jafngildi þess að karlmenn geri listaverk;
karlar gera konum börn og búa til listaverk úr náttúrunni, sæði karlsins
eru innbyggð inn í hina eilífu hringrás náttúrunnar. Þetta eru gömul og ný
sannindi.
Lífshugtak Andrews Rogers á auðvitað rætur sínar í menningarsögunni
og hin rökrétta órökvísi hans á sér kannski einhverja samsvörun í
rökhyggja um leið og lykilatriðin í heimspeki hans eru Guð, maðurinn
og leit mannsins að hamingju. Spinosa gerði grein fyrir fjórum leiðum
til þess að öðlast þekkingu en í hans huga voru æðstu gæði tengd
henni. Hann hafnaði fyrstu þremur leiðunum sem voru: upplýsingar
fengnar frá öðrum, beinn lærdómur af persónulegri reynslu og að
hægt sé að leiða sannar fullyrðingar af öðrum fullyrðingum sem
taldar eru sannar. Engri þessara leiða var treystandi að mati Spinosa,
en um þá fjórðu gegndi öðru máli; um hana var ekki hægt að efast
þar sem hún felur í sér beint innsæi sem leiðir hið raunverulega eðli
hlutanna í ljós. Uppbygging frumspeki og siðfræði Spinosa grundvallast
og Guð sé ódeilanlegur og óendanlegur frumhlutur sem á sér engin
takmörk í tíma og rúmi né á nokkurn annan hátt.
Að skilja það hvernig er að vera maður jafngildir því að skilja hvernig
maðurinn er hluti alverunnar. Í hugmynd Spinosa er því veröldin og Guð
hið sama, engin stigsmunur er á efni og anda. Frá þessu sjónarhorni eru
hin innbyggðu sjónarhorn í verkum Rogers áhugaverð. Táknin verða
ekki séð og skilin nema frá sjónarhorni fuglsaugans, gervihnatta eða
hins alsjáandi Guðs. Sjónarhorn manna innan verkanna skapar upplifun
um leið og það tákngerir undrunarefni mismunandi viðmiða.
Þetta leiðir hugann að gullinsniðinu og stærðfræðilögmáli Fibonaccis
sem byggir á órökvísri talnaspeki. Andrew Rogers hefur eins og
vestrænnar menningar heillast af þessum leyndardómi sem margir telja
undirstöðu allra lífsmagna í náttúrunni og fela í sér hina fullkomnu fegurð.
Árið 2004 bætti hann við enn einu verki, Ratio, í Arava-eyðimörkinni
og staðsetti milli hinna jarðlistaverkanna. Stærðfræðireglan er táknuð
með gríska stafnum eftir gríska myndhöggvaranum Feidías sem
talinn er hafa notað regluna í listsköpun sinni. Eins hefur lögmálið verið
túlkað með stafnum T sem vísar í fyrsta staf gríska orðsins sem
þýðir skurður eða sneið. Sé gengið út frá hinum hringlaga tíma, sem
Rogers leggur til grundvallar verkum sínum og lífsskilningi, þá skynjum
er akkúrat í núinu.
Í því ljósi verður rúnastafurinn Nú á Vaðlaheiði ekki bara áhugaverður
vegna þess sem hann merkir heldur einnig vegna þess hvernig hann
lítur út. Hin bogadregna lína sem myndar rúnina sem táknar tímann er
skorin á einum stað með þverstriki. Ef rúnin er lesin sem myndletur þá
miðlar hún á milli hugmyndanna um tímann sem annaðhvort línulaga
eða hringlaga fyrirbæris. Tíminn er boginn og upphaf hans og endir liggja
í sama plani en ekki í sama punkti og til viðbótar stendur stafurinn á
ímyndaðri línu sem lokar hringnum.
Tíminn er eitt dularfyllsta hugtak sem maðurinn hefur þurft að
glíma við og aldrei hefur tekist að útskýra til hlítar. Hið þekkta
Spírallinn (Spiral Jetty, 1970), sem
fæstir hafa þó barið augum öðruvísi en á ljósmynd, fjallar eins og önnur
verk hans og skrif öðrum þræði um tímann og núið sem huglægt rými.
Í grein sinni „Setlög hugans“ („Sedimentation of the Mind“) frá 1968
segir hann:
sundrast í aðskiljanleg svið listarinnar. […] Listamaður
er einungis undirokaður af tímanum ef eitthvað eða
einhver annar en hann sjálfur stjórnar tímanum. Því
dýpra sem listamaður sekkur í straum tímans, þeim
mun líkara óminni verður það; vegna þessa verður hann
kjósa að gleyma tímanum fyrir fullt og allt, því hann
leynir „lögmáli dauðans“ (eins og allir sannir listamenn
vita). Í þessari tímabundnu á eru leifarnar af listasögunni
Evrópu lið, né heldur ævafornum eða frumstæðum
menningarheimum; hún verður þess í stað að kanna
hinn for- og eftir-sögulega huga; hún verður að fara á þá
staði þar sem fjarlægar framtíðir og fjarlægar fortíðir
mætast. (Art in Theory 1900–2000, bls. 881.)
Smithson vill ekki að við afneitum okkar eigin tíma í hugmyndinni um
afstæði tímans því ekki sé til neitt sem heiti tímalaus listaverk, það
væru svik við listamanninn. Smithson sameinaði á kaldhæðinn hátt í
verkum sínum hugmynd um úrvalshyggju
hans voru eins konar innrás inn á það einskismannsland sem liggur á
milli þessarar einstrengingslegu fagurfræði og hins ruddalega iðnaðar-
heims nútímans.
Verk Andrews Rogers eru einnig barn síns tíma — þ.e. okkar tíma
fara inn í það rými þar sem „fjarlægar framtíðir og fjarlægar fortíðir
mætast“. Ólíkt verkum Smithsons eru verk Rogers algerlega laus við
þjáningu, sofandahætti og ótímabærum dauða. Enda þótt Rogers sé
óvenjulegur listamaður er það reyndar ekki rétt að verk hans séu
alveg á ská og skjön við hinar póstmódernísku áherslur samtímans.
Eftir niðurbrot, afbyggingu og sundrun hefðbundinna táknkerfa
Vesturlanda sem hafa gengið sér til húðar, púslar hann bútunum saman
aftur, táknum frá ólíkum löndum og ólíkum tíma og bræðir við eigin
persónulega táknsýn. Hann blandar saman fornum miðlum og nýtísku
tækni, er upptekinn af þátttöku þeirra sem njóta verkanna, reynir að
sætta ólíka menningarheima og mynda gagnvirk tengsl.
Rogers leggur áherslu á eins konar fjölmenningarlega þjóðernishyggju
í anda Johanns Gottfrieds Herder (1744–1803) þar sem styrking
menningarlegrar sjálfsmyndar mismunandi þjóða sameinar þær í
umfang verkefnisins og ekki síst hrikaleg framkvæmdagleðin sem er
vandamál; náttúruleg, trúarleg, verkfræðileg, pólitísk og félagsleg.
Það væri forvitnilegt að vita hvað Steini Steinarri, sem vitnað er í hérna í
byrjun, hefði þótt um uppátæki Andrews Rogers, hvort hann hefði mært
það, sent honum eina af sínum baneitruðu háðsvísum eða bara hvílt í
þagnarbrag eins og hann gerir núna. Honum hefði alltént þótt mikið
koma til efniviðar listamannsins, hinna méluðu beina jötunsins Ýmis,
eins og skáldanafn hans ber með sér. Ef til vill má draga inntak þessarar
greinar í eina setningu og segja að „allt sem hefur gerst og mun gerast
á sér stað nákvæmlega núna“ og kalla þetta „Byssubrandskenninguna“,
ekki vegna neins ofsa heldur þeirrar guðdómlegu snerpu sem á þarf að
halda til að grípa hana á lofti í einum hvelli frá öllum hliðum samtímis.
áttað sig á inntaki hennar og með Lífstaktinum hitt beint í mark, en það
getur náttúrlega aðeins tíminn leitt í ljós.
Hannes Sigurðsson
forstöðumaður Listasafnsins á Akureyri
má skúlptúra eftir hann í fjölmörgum einkasöfnum, sem og í mikilvægum opinberum söfnum í Ástralíu, Suðaustur-Asíu, Mið-Austurlöndum, Evrópu og Bandaríkjunum. Verk
og Simon Wiesenthal. Hin stóru útiverk Rogers úr bronsi prýða margar vel þekktar byggingar og hafa hvarvetna hlotið góðar viðtökur. Lífstakturinn, sem hann byrjaði á í
Arava-eyðimörkinni í Ísrael árið 1999, er langmetnaðarfyllsta verkefni hans og nær nú þegar til sjö landa í fjórum heimsálfum og hefur vakið athygli um heim allan.
Verkefnið Lífstakturinn er stærsta landlistarverkefni sem ráðist hefur verið í á okkar tímum og myndar keðju steinskúlptúra, eða steingarða, um alla jarðarkringluna.
sem bera sameiginlega heitið Lífstakturinn,
fela í sér breiða alþjóðlega sýn sem tengir saman minningar og margvísleg tákn sem eiga uppruna sinn í fornum steinristum, málverkum og goðsögnum á hverjum stað; þeir
marka tímann og framlengja söguna inn í hina óræðu framtíð um leið og þeir kanna djúpsævi menningararfs okkar í leit að hinu andlega. Sýningin í Listasafninu á Akureyri
Mitt helsta viðfangsefni verður eftir sem áður Lífstakturinn — myndlíkingar um hina eilífu hringrás lífsins, vöxt og allar þær kenndir sem lita mannlega tilveru. Þeim er ætlað
að vera jákvæð tákn lífs og endurfæðingar, að tjá og minna á mannlega baráttu og sjálfskoðun. Skúlptúrar mínir endurspegla samfélag okkar, drauma okkar og væntingar. Að
mismun, gera hlutina ljósari, taka ákvarðanir og sjá að lokum hvað það er sem máli skiptir þegar maður gefur einhverju lögun. Með hvaða hætti öðrum getur maður betur
[…] Lífstakturinn
röð punkta sem tengjast saman. Ef til vill er kjarni lífsins fólginn í þessu.
Til lífsins (Chai), mars 1999Steingarður, 38 x 33 metrar
Lífstakturinn (Rhythms of Life), apríl 2001Steingarður, 29 x 34 metrar
Sneið (Slice), mars 2003Steingarður, 80 x 38 metrar
Hlutfall (Ratio), október 2004Steinhleðsla, 8 x 32 metrar
Í Ísrael teygir Lífstakturinn við hinar fornu Nabatean-rústir og kryddleið frá fornöld. Verkið samanstendur af þremur steingörðum sem bera heitin Til lífsins, Lífstakturinn og Sneið. Að auki er steinhleðsla, Hlutfall, sem lokið var við árið 2004, og byggir hún á hlutföllum gullinsniðsins. Hún er á fjallstoppi skammt frá Sapir.
Fornþjóðirnar (The Ancients)Steingarður, 90 metra langur
Lífstakturinn (Rhythms of Life)Steingarður, 30 metra langur
Fornaldartungumál (Ancient Language)Steingarður, 80 metra langur
Í Chile nær Lífstakturinnmetra hæð. Fyrsti hluti verksins er á mjög framandlegum stað, Sléttu þolinmæðinnar (Llano de la Paciencia) í Atacama-eyðimörkinni, þurrustu eyðimörk jarðarinnar, og svo teygir það sig til austurs, klífur Saltfjöllin (Cordillera de la Sal) sem gnæfa
heitin Fornaldartungumál, Fornþjóðirnar og Lífstakturinn.
Steingarðurinn Fornaldarþjóðirnar á sér 6000 ára gamla fyrirmynd, bergrún sem kallast El Señor de los Báculos og fannst á Rio Loa-svæðinu skammt frá Calama.
13 kílómetra frá bænum San Pedro, og steinveggirnir eru 1.200 metrar að lengd. Þeir eru gerðir úr hrauni og leir.
Lífstakturinnog Mánadalinn, þar sem landslagið er líkast því sem er á tunglinu, í um það bil 14 kílómetra fjarlægð frá San Pedro.
Fornaldartungumál sækir innblástur sinn í 4.800 ára gamla bergrún sem rist er í stein á svæðinu í kring, Yerbas Buenos, í 20 kílómetra fjarlægð frá Rio Grande. Þessi steingarður er 80 metra langur og 2,8 metra hár.
Lífstakturinn (Rhythms of Life)Steingarður, 100 x 100 metrar
Nærvera (Presence)Steingarður, 100 x 100 metrar
Hringir (Circles)Steingarður, 100 metrar í þvermál
Í Bólivíu eru þessir þrír steingarðar í allt að 4.360 metra hæð. Þeir eru í sex kílómetra fjarlægð hver frá öðrum og frá hverjum þeirra sjást hinir tveir þar eð loftið er tært í þessari hæð. Þessir steingarðar voru reistir með hjálp 800 verkamanna, sem margir hverjir voru konur sem báru barn á bakinu. Nærvera á rætur að rekja til bergrúna í grenndinni af seiðmanni í Cerro Ispina, San Antonio, en Hringir eru hins vegar innblásnir af steinlistaverkum á Betanzos-svæðinu. Þegar verkinu var lokið var dýri fórnað til að helga byggingarsvæði og sköpun steingarðanna.
Lífstakturinn (Rhythms of Life)Steingarður, 60 x 60 metrar
Stolt (Ljón) (Pride (Lion))Steingarður, 60 x 60 metrar
Uppstigning (Ascend)Steinskúlptúr, 6,5 x 6,5 metrar
Á Sri Lanka eru tveir steingarðar og einn steinskúlptúr með 3,5 kílómetra millibili í kringum vatn. Þeir standa á heilögum björgum sem rísa í 350 metra
Lífstakturinn (Rhythms of Life)Steingarður, 100 x 90 metrar
BunjilSteingarður, 100 x 100 metrar
Í Geelong í Ástralíu voru verkin Lífstakturinn og Bunjil () reist fyrir You Yangs-þjóðgarðinn í tilefni af Samveldisleikunum árið 2006.
Lífstakturinn Bunjil-steingarðinum er stærsti steinninn um það bil 12 tonn að þyngd og á honum er rista af Bunjil, hinum mikla anda forfeðranna sem skapaði Kulin-landið. Hann bjó til dýrin og plönturnar og kenndi fólkinu hvernig það ætti að haga sér á jörðinni. Hann kenndi því líka hvernig ætti að standa fyrir þeim athöfnum sem tryggja myndu viðgang lífsins. Steinninn veit í átt að You Yangs-fjöllunum þar sem Lífstakturinn er staðsettur.
Lífstakturinn (Rhythms of Life)Steingarður, 100 x 100 metrar
Örninn (The Eagle)Steingarður, 100 x 100 metrar
Núna (rúnastafur) (Now (rune))Steingarður, 100 x 100 metrar
Ísland var numið af víkingum árið 874, og er þjóðin að mestu komin af norskum og keltneskum stofni. Akureyri er „á toppi“ jarðarkringlunnar, aðeins 100 kílómetra
hvikula svæði er jarðskorpan sífellt virk, og því eru jarðskjálftar og eldgos ekki óalgeng og talsvert er af heitum goshverum. Mosagróin hraunin og gríðarlegur fjöldi óvenjulegra bergmyndana eru aðalsmerki hins íslenska landslags og hafa skapast af hinum stöðugu átökum íss og elds.
Lífstakturinn
Örninn er ættaður úr íslenskri goðafræði og er tákn Akureyrar og ein af landvættunum fjórum í skjaldarmerki Íslands, en hinar eru uxinn (vestur), drekinn (austur) og bergrisinn (suður). Rúnastafurinn Nú er efst í hlíðum Vaðlaheiðar, austan fjarðarins, gegnt Akureyri en hinir tveir steingarðarnir eru í fjöllunum ofan við bæinn.
Lífstakturinn (Rhythms of Life)Steingarður, 200 x 200 metrar
Hellisbúinn (The Caveman)Steingarður, 150 x 150 metrar
Sendiboðinn (The Messenger)Steingarður, 200 x 200 metrar
Þúsund hermenn í kínverska hernum voru fengnir til að reisa þrjá stóra steingarða sem samanstanda af um það bil 4 kílómetrum af hlöðnum veggjum sem vega þúsundir tonna. Þeir eru á afskekktu svæði í Gobi-eyðimörkinni andspænis snævi
svæðis sem er á heimsminjaskrá Menningarmálastofnunar Sameinuðu þjóðanna (UNESCO) og skammt frá vesturenda Kínamúrsins, sem er stærsta mannvirkið á jörðinni, 6400 kílómetra langur.
Hellisbúinn á sér fyrirmynd í bergrún frá 476–221 f.Kr. sem er í Heishan-fjöllunum norðvestur af borginni Jiayuguan. Sendiboðinn er sprottinn upp úr teikningu sem fannst skammt frá steingörðunum í gröf keisara frá valdatímum Wei-Jin-keisaraættarinnar og er frá 220–265 e.Kr. Steingarðarnir voru afhjúpaðir við undirleik 450 trommuleikara úr hljómsveit kínverska hersins, þar sem meðal annars er leikið á trommur sem eru meira en tveir metrar í þvermál.
has been actively involved in the art world for 27 years. He
was appointed the director of the Akureyri Art Museum in 1999, and is the founder
and director of the Icelandic Cultural Enterprise art.is. Sigurdsson received an M.A. in
Art History from UC Berkeley, having previously studied at University College London
and graduated from the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts, Department of Painting,
decade as an art correspondent and began his career as an independent curator there.
Since then, he has edited and published dozens of books and catalogues and curated
over 350 exhibitions and large-scale projects, including shows on Matthew Barney,
Louise Bourgeois, Jenny Holzer, Per Kirkeby, Carolee Schneemann, Sally Mann, Spencer
Tunick, Joel-Peter Witkin, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rembrandt and Goya, to name but
a few. Sigurdsson has collaborated with museums, institutions, educational authorities,
corporations and galleries around the world in countries as diverse as Norway, Faroe
Islands, Greenland, Latvia, Russia, Germany, England, France, Spain, Jordan, India, Japan
and the United States. He is the founder of the Icelandic Visual Arts Awards that were
launched in 2006.
is an independent curator and critic based in New York. She has written for
many publications in the United States and abroad, as a contributing editor at ARTnews
News, Art Papers, Sculpture Magazine, Tema Celeste, Flash Art, Art Press, Art and Auction and
Glass Quarterly, among others. She has been the essayist for many exhibition catalogues and
brochures on contemporary art, including publications for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the
Neuberger Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has served on numerous advisory
panels and review committees, including the Pew Fellowship awards, and is a member of several
boards, including the International Association of Art Critics (AICA/USA), Art in General, and Art
Omi, an international artist residency programme. Wei has been a guest lecturer, panellist and
visiting critic at art institutions in the United States and abroad, and has curated numerous
shows. She has an M.A. in art history from Columbia University, New York.
Weightless, Canberra, Australia, 2006
150 x 340 cm (4.9 x 5.5 ft)
Weightless, Chicago Pier Walk, 2003
150 x 340 cm (4.9 x 5.5 ft)
Folded, 2006
140 x 70 cm (4.6 x 2.9 ft)
Unfurling, 2006
170 cm (5.6 ft)
Folded 3, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, 2003
100 cm (3.4 ft)
Folded 1, 2006
140 x 80 cm (4.6 x 2.6 ft)
Weightless 5, Melbourne, Australia, 2003
120 cm (3.9 ft)
Rise, 2003
4,5 m x 4 m (14.7 x 13.1 ft)
Weightless 7, 2006
80 cm (2.6 ft)
2007 Akureyri Art Museum, Iceland: Rhythms of Life 1-VII2007 William Mora Gallery, Melbourne, Australia2007 James Gray Gallery, Los Angeles, USA2005 Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia2004 Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey, U.S.A.2004 Gomboc Sculpture Park, W.A. Australia2003 Deakin University, Victoria, Australia: Survey Exhibition2002 Auronzo di Cadore, Italy2002 Le Venezie, Treviso, Italy2002 Mudima Foundation, Milan, Italy1999 Boritzer Gray Hamano, Santa Monica, USA: Rhythms of Life1998 Embassy of Australia, Washington, USA: Rhythms of Life1997 Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Victoria, Australia: Rhythms of Life1994 Meridian Gallery, Victoria, Australia: Of Freedom & Will1993 Meridian Gallery, Victoria, Australia: Mankind in the Gesture of an Individual
2006 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia2005 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia2004 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia2004 Geelong Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia 2003 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia2002 Art Singapore, Contemporary Asian Art, Singapore2002 Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia2001 Sofa, Chicago, USA1998 Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey, USA1998 Latrobe University, Victoria, Australia1997 Sculpture at Heidelberg Medical Centre,Victoria, Australia1994 4th Australian Contemporary Art Fair
2006 Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, NSW, Australia2005 McClelland Contemporary Sculpture Survey & Award, Australia2004 Chicago Navy Pier Walk, USA2004 Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award2003 McClelland Survey and Sculpture Park, Victoria, Australia2002 Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, NSW, Australia Ripening, Dallas Texas, USA. 4 x 3 metres, 1999
Warner Village Cinemas, Berkshire, UKFilm Director, H 3.5m (11ft. 6”)
Hokoku Construction, Kobe, JapanFlora Exemplar, H 2.2m (7ft. 3”)Balexert Cinemas, SwitzerlandFilm Director, H 3.5m (11ft. 6”)
City of Vienna, Nussdorferstrasse, Vienna, AustriaFlora Exemplar, H 3.1m (10ft. 2”)
Presented in Vienna to Simon Wiesenthal by the Ambassador of the United States to Vienna, Austria for the State of the World ForumResistance, 1999
Machu Picchu Municipality, PeruRhythms of the Andes, H 3.5m (11ft. 6”)
Golden Village, Marine Square South Multiplex, SingaporeCameraMan, H 2m (ft. 6”)
Maroussi Multiplex, Athens, GreeceCameraMan 2, H 2m (ft. t”)
International Conference Center, Jerusalem, IsraelRhythms of Life, H 2.6m (8ft. 6”)
Curitiba, BrazilHolocaust Memorial, 2002
Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey, USAFlora Exemplar, H 2.2m (7ft. 3”)Leading 1, H 2.0m (6ft. 7”)Flora Exemplar, H 4.6m (15ft ) 2006
Stonebriar Park, Dallas, Texas, USARhythms of the Metropolis, H 6m (19ft. 8”)Flora Exemplar, H 2.2m (7ft. 3”)Growing, H 4m (13ft. 2”)Leading 2, H 2.2m (7ft. 3”)Evolving, H 2.4m (8ft.)Macrocosm, H 3m (9ft. 10”)Observe, H 3m (9ft. 6”)Living, H 4m (13ft. 2”)Balanced, H 4m (13ft. 2”)Ripening, H 4m (13ft. 2”)Propagating, H 4m (13ft. 2”)Coil 1, H 3m (9ft. 6”) Rhythms of Life, H 2.6m (8ft. 5”)
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, IsraelTorch of LearningRhythms of the Metropolis, H 6m (19ft. 8”)
Technion – Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel(Artist in Residence, The Technion, Haifa, Israel)Transform, H 3.8m (12ft. 10”)Flora Exemplar
Australian Consul General’s Residence, Kobe, JapanRhythms of the MetropolisSound
Sapir, Arava, IsraelFlora Exemplar, H 2.2m (7ft. 3”)To Life, H 38.5M X 33M (126ft. x 108ft)Rhythms of Life, 29m x 20m (95ft. x 65ft.)Slice, 60m x 38m (197ft. x 125ft.)Ratio, 8m x 32m (26ft. x 105ft.)
Harwood Center, Dallas, Texas, USARunning Man, H 1.5m (4ft. 11”)Transitory
Hall Vineyard Inc., California, USAReaching Away, H 4.6m (15ft. 8”)I Dreamed, H 2.6m (8ft. 6”)Flora Exemplar, H 2.2m (7ft. 3”)Growing, H 2.6m (8ft. 6”)Spirit, H 3m (9ft. 6”)Evolution, H 4m. (13ft. 2”)Balance, H 2.4m (8ft.)Organic, H 4m (13ft. 2”)Growth, H 4m (13ft. 2”)Coil 1, H 3m (9ft. 6”)
Warner Brothers Complex, Taipei, TaiwanFilm Director, H 3.5m (11ft. 6”)
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACTRhythms of Life
Art Gallery of New South WalesFlora Exemplar, H 2.6m (8ft. 6”)
National Gallery of VictoriaFolded, H 78cm (31”)
Victorian Arts Centre, MelbourneRhythms of Life, H 2.6m (8ft. 6”)
City of Melbourne, King Street, Melbourne, VictoriaCity Living, H 5m (16ft. 5”)
City of Melbourne, Jolimont Terrace, Melbourne, VictoriaI Dreamed, H 3.6m (16ft. 5”)
The Victorian State Government - City of MelbourneReaching Away, H 4.6m. (15ft.)
Sale Regional Art Gallery, VictoriaRunning Man
Mornington Peninsula Art Gallery, VictoriaPerception & Reality 2
Castlemaine Art Gallery, VictoriaReaching Away
Mildura Art Centre, VictoriaRunning Man
Bendigo Regional Art Gallery, VictoriaGrowing
High Court Building, Queen & Little Bourke Streets, Melbourne, VictoriaRhythms of the Metropolis, H 4.7m (15ft. 6”)
Ascend
Citibank Building, 350 Collins Street, Melbourne, VictoriaI Dropped My Bow, H 3.5m (11ft. 6”)
Jam Factory, Prahran, VictoriaCamera Man, H 2m (6ft. 6”)
The Experience
University of new South Wales, SydneyScreen
Crown Casino Complex, Melbourne, VictoriaFilm Director, H 3m (9ft. 10”)
University of Melbourne, VictoriaRunning Man
Copelen, South Yarra, VictoriaFlora Exemplar, H 3.6m (11ft. 10”)
Wesley College, Prahran, VictoriaTogether
Novotel International Hotel, Springvale, VictoriaIndustrial City, 7.5m x 4.5m (24ft. 6” x 14ft. 8”)
Bristol Myers Squib, VictoriaLeading 2
The Becton Corporation, Port Melbourne, VictoriaObserve, H 2.6m (14ft. 7”)
Shoreham, VictoriaGrowing, H 4m (13 ft.)
Melbourne Holocaust Museum, ElsternwickPillars of Witness, H 6m (19ft.10”)
Mount Scopus College, MelbourneGrowth, H 4m (13ft. 2”)
Port Melbourne, VictoriaLeading 1, H 2m (6ft. 6”)
Jewish Museum of VictoriaResistance
Springvale Cemetery, VictoriaBuchenwald Memorial, H 4m (13ft. 2”)Tomb Memorial, H 3.5m (11ft. 6”)
McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, VictoriaObserve, H 2.6m (14ft. 8”)
World Square - Sydney NSWRhythms of Life, H 2.6m (8ft. 6”)Leading, H 2.2m (7ft. 3”)
Elgee Park, Red Hill, VictoriaLeading 1, H 2m (6ft. 6”)
Macquarie University, NSWCoil, H 3m, (9ft.6”).
McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park, Langwarrin, VictoriaOrganic, H 4.2m, (14ft.)
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VictoriaCatching Wind, H 1.5m (5ft.)
Arava Desert, Israel Sculpture Ratio, 8 x 32 m, 2004
Atacama Desert, Chile 2004Geoglyph Rhythms of Life, 40 x 30m, 2004Geoglyph The Ancients, 90 x 88 m, 2004Geoglyph, Ancient Language, 80 x 2.8 m, 2004
Arava Desert, Israel Geoglyph Slice, 80 x 38.15 m, 2003Geoglyph Rhythms of Life, 29 x 24 m, 2001Geoglyph To Life, 38 x 33 m, 1999
Stonebriar Park Dallas, Texas, USARhythms of the Metropolis, 6 m, 2001
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, IsraelRhythms of the Metropolis, 6 m, 2002
Presented in Vienna to Simon Wiesenthal by the Ambassador of the United States to Vienna, Austria for the State of the World ForumResistance, 1999
Gobi Desert, China 2006Geoglyph Rhythms of Life, 200 x 200 m, 2006Geoglyph Messenger, 150 x 150 m, 2006Geoglyph Caveman, 150 x 150 m, 2006
Akureyri, Iceland 2006Geoglyph Rhythms of Life, 100 x 100 m, 2006Geoglyph Rune, 100 x 100 m, 2006Geoglyph Eagle, 100 x 100 m, 2006
Bank One Tower, Fort Worth, Texas, USAUnfurling, 3.5 m, 2006
Kurunegala, Sri Lanka 2005Geoglyph Rhythms of Life, 60 x 60 m, 2005Geoglyph Pride, 60 x 60 m, 2005Sculpture Ratiio, 6.5 x 6.5 m, 2005
Young Presidents’ Organization, New ZealandRhythms of Life, 1999
Arava Regional Council, Sapir Town, IsraelGeoglyph, To Life , 38 x 33 m, 1999
State of the World Forum, San Francisco, USARipple, 1999
City of Vienna, Nussdorferstrasse, AustriaPresented to the City of Vienna on behalf of State of the World Forum by the United States Ambassador to AustriaFlora Exemplar, 1999
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IsraelArtist in Residence 1998Transform, H 3.8 m, 1998
Curabati, BrazilHolocaust Memorial, 2002
State of the World Forum,San Francisco, USACritical Power, 1998
Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey, USAFlora Exemplar, 4.6 m, 2006
City of Jerusalem, IsraelRatio, 4.5 x 5 m, 2005
BoliviaGeoglyph Rhythms of Life, 100 x 100 m, 2005Geoglyph Presence, 100 x 100 m, 2005Geoglyph Circles, 100 x 100 m, 2005
Springvale, VictoriaBabi-Yar Memorial, 2006
Rise, 4.6m
Commonwealth Games 2006, Melbourne, VictoriaBunjil, 100m x 100m (328ft x 328ft)Rhythms of Life, 100m x 90m (328ft x 295ft)
Holocaust Memorial, Melbourne, VictoriaTomb, 2005
Presented to the President of IsraelMother Earth, 2005
Australia/Israel Chamber of CommerceAwards — 1997, 1998 and 2004Commerce
World Square - George Street, Sydney, NSWRhythms of Life, Leading, 2003
Presented to Prime Minister John Howard
Treasury Place, Melbourne, VictoriaAscend, 2000
Marquette Village Roadshow Theatres Pty. Ltd,Presentation 1998, 1999, 2002 - Melbourne Cup, AustraliaFilm Director
Hebrew University of Jerusalem FriendsTorch of Learning, 2001
Springvale Cemetery, VictoriaBuchenwald Memorial, 2000
Jewish Holocaust Museum, Elsternwick, VictoriaPillars of Witness, 1999
Flora Exemplar
Three Geoglyphs created on the Altiplano in Bolivia in 2005 at an altitude of 4200 metres. These works comprise the largest contemporary art site created,forming part of a chain of such creations around the world. Photographed by satellite. CNN Television: “Inside the Middle East: Geoglyphs in the Arava Desert, Israel.” November 2005Celebration of Life photographs of 42 pregnant women in the Arava Desert, Israel 2003
State of the World Forum, San Francisco, USA1997: The Young Presidents’ Organization. Auckland, New Zealand 1998: Artist in Residence, Institute of Technology at Technion University, Haifa, Israel2004: Symposium at Sculptures by the Sea, Boondi, NSW. Australia
Ken Scarlett, a book entitled Rhythms of Life: The Art of Andrew Rogers. Melbourne Macmillan Art Publishing, 2003. Comments by Edmund Capon, Director of the Australian Gallery, NSW, Australia, Edmund Pilsbury, former Director of Kimball Art Museum and Idit Porit, formerly of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. ISBN: 187683261-4Dr. Chris McAuliffe, a book entitled Forms, Essay. ISBN: 0-9577671-3-7Ken Scarlett, a book entitled Elgee Park: Sculpture in Landscape. Melbourne, Macmillan Art Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 1-875-832-32-0Sculpture Magazine of China Sculptors Association, 2006Parliament of Victoria, Victoria’s Hansard, March 18, 2006The Age Newspaper, January 28, 2006Jetstar Magazine, December/January 2006Lino, Issue No. 10 2005The Sydney Morning Herald, December 28, 2005CNN Television: Inside the Middle East, Geoglyphs in the Arava Desert, Israel. November, 2005The Australian Newspaper, November 16, 17, 18, 2005The Herald Sun Newspaper, November 7, 2005The Australian Art Collector, Issue 34, October-December 2005World Sculpture News, Volume 11 Number 2, Spring 2005 Melbourne Weekly Magazine, September 28-October 4, 2005Melbourne Magazine, Issue 032, August 2005 ABC Television, Foreign Correspondent, June 21, 2005ABC Radio, June 19, 2005State of the Arts, Australia, 2005 Art in America, June/July 2005Australian Art Monthly, May 2005The Age Newspaper, May 16, 2005 Art Monthly Australia, May 2005 Number 179Monument Architecture & Design, April 2005World Sculpture News, Volume 10 Number 4, Autumn 2004 Australian Financial Review, August 28-29, 2004The Age Newspaper, March 3, 2004Craft Arts International, #60 2004Sculpture, Magazine of the International Sculpture Center, USA, April 2004Good Reading, October 2003World Sculpture News, Volume 9, Number 4, Autumn 2003Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia Website, 2002University of Melbourne: Australian Sculpture Server, 2002Sculpture, Magazine of the International Sculpture Center, USA: On Record, Jan/Feb 2003Kult, Italy, March 2002Victorian Arts Centre Home Page, February 2002Jerusalem Post, Friday February 1 and February 8, 2002Victorian Arts Centre News: Preview, December 2001Melbourne City Art Walks, City of Melbourne, December 2001World Sculpture News, Volume 7 Number 3, Summer 2001The Jerusalem Post, Friday August 25, 2000The Herald Sun, Arts & Entertainment, July 31, 2000
Coil, Montalto Vineyard, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. 3.3 x 2.4 metres, 1999
World Sculpture News, Volume 6 Number 2, Spring 2000Monument Architecture & Design, April/May 2000The Australian Magazine, April 1-2, 2000World Sculpture News, Volume 5 No. 2, Spring 1999ORF Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, Wien Heute –Television, June 12, 1999Kurier Newspaper, Wien Austria, December 8, 1999World Sculpture News, Volume 5 Number 4, Autumn 1999The Age Newspaper, Melbourne, Australia, December, 6 1999The Age Newspaper, Melbourne, Australia, October 25, 1999Sculpture, Magazine of The International Sculpture Center, USA, September 1999, Vol. 18 No. 719th & 20th Century Australian Painting Sculpture and Decorative Arts, 1999. Lauraine Diggins Fine ArtSalzburger Nachrichten, March 20, 1999Wiener Zeitung, March 22, 1999Austria Today Newspaper, March 25, 1999Die Presse Newspaper, Vienna Austria, March 20, 1999World Sculpture News, Autumn1998, Volume 4 Number 419th & 20th Century Australian Painting Sculpture and Decorative Arts, 1998 Catalogue 90. Lauraine Diggins Fine ArtCity of Melbourne Open Air Sculpture Museum, 1997Generation, June 1995, January 1996, October 1996, October 1997, May 2000Venice Magazine, Los Angeles Arts March 1998Must See Melbourne: City of Melbourne, Greeting Service, December 1997Becton Living, 1997City of Melbourne: Events Magazine, January, March, April 1998Miscellanea19th & 20th Century Australian Painting Sculpture and Decorative Arts 1997, Lauraine Diggins Fine ArtsHerald Sun Newspaper, 1997Australian Council for Educational Research, 1997, Administration ManualFourth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, October 1994YPO Worldwide, December 1995, A Renaissance LegacyThe Herald Sun: Home Magazine, September 2, 1995.The Qantas Club: Artistic Sensibilities, September 1995Sunraysia Newspaper, May 18, 1996Architectural Review, Australia, Autumn 1996, Presenting the FutureHerald Sun Newspaper, June 20, 1993
Macrocosm, Dallas Texas, USA. h. 3 metres, 1996
2007 Akureyri Art Museum, Iceland: Rhythms of Life I-VII. ISBN: 978-9979-9632-7-1 2002 Mudima Foundation, Italy: Rhythms of Life II. ISBN: 0957767102000 Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, Australia: Rhythms of Life II 1999 Holocaust Museum, Melbourne Australia: Pillars of Witness. ISBN 064638229 21997 Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, Australia: Rhythms of Life1995 Meridian Gallery, Melbourne, Australia: Of Freedom and Will1993 Meridian Gallery, Melbourne, Australia: Mankind in the Gesture of an Individual
Italy Galleria La Subbia, PietrasantaUSA James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CaliforniaAustralia Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW
Celebration of Life, Israel 2003
Celebration of Life, Israel 2003
Back cover: work in progress, China, 2006
Andrew rogers is one of Australia’s most prominent
contemporary sculptors with an international reputation.
He exhibits internationally and his sculptures can be found
in numerous private and significant public collections in
Australia, South-East Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the
United States. His works have been presented to leading
world figures such as John Howard, Vincent Fox, Efraim
Katzir, Richard Butler and Simon Wiesenthal. Rogers’ large
outdoor bronzes grace many well-known buildings and
have received critical acclaim. Rhythms of Life, which he
began in Israel’s Arava Desert in 1999, is by far his most
ambitious project, already extending to seven countries on
four continents and commanding worldwide attention.
136 Andrew rogers