En bit mark (A Piece of Earth)

The artwork A piece of land is placed on the asphalt floor in front of a school. A kind of staircase with four steps is cast together with a square container of stone which in turn is surrounded by steel grilles. The container holds a piece of fresh green lawn. The stairs themselves are asymmetrical with soft, round shapes. It looks smooth.

The lowest step takes place and flows out over the asphalt like a small island. The stairs then narrow down the higher up it carries. A little further away in the schoolyard next to the lattice that encloses the basketball court is a similar free-standing staircase without interconnected planting.

Gjuten betong med oregelbundna former som har avsatser eller trappsteg.

What does a piece of earth look like? In Gumaeliusskolan’s schoolyard, artists Anna Högberg and Johan Tiren have played with the contour lines of a landscape as depicted on maps. They cast irregular shapes of ledges and steps in concrete, making environments intended to function as sitting or ‘hanging’ places (and maybe also as places to run and jump). Perhaps the ledges also resemble the traces we humans leave behind when we mine and excavate minerals from the earth.

The tops of the concrete have been hand-sanded so that they are tactile and smooth to the touch. They look like a water surface and reflect the school buildings. The edges were allowed to retain a brighter and rougher surface, emphasizing the differences in level of the concrete shapes.

The artists have not only made representations of earth as interpreted or manipulated topography. Next to one of the concrete steps, they have also placed a real piece of earth in a rectangular cross-section. On top of the austere shape of stone and soil, which is held together by steel mesh cages, or gabions, is a square of free-growing vegetation. The idea is that these plants will be able to take over, and ‘grow’ with the school and the passing time.

Konstverk: En bit mark (A Piece of Earth)

Konstnär: Anna Högberg, Johan Tiren

År: 2018

Material: Stone, soil, plants and concrete

Placering: Gumaeliusskolans gård

Ägare: Örebro Municipality

Konstverkets position på karta

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