City marker S02 Book R
Akira Asada
About this artwork.
The city marker represents an immense “open book”. One “page” is made of glass and metal and originally contained a number of monitors on which a continuous stream of news and other data were projected via satellite. The other “page” is made of stone on which the text “future tense” has been applied. The intention was that monitors would also be mounted in the stone, which would pass on the daily news to passers-by 24 hours a day. Asada would thus meet the variable provided by master planner Libeskind, which obliged him to integrate the time unit 86,400 (a number that stands for the number of seconds in a 24-hour period). But because the technology did not work, the monitors were not installed or deactivated.
Asada seems to have wanted to emphasise the futility of a city boundary with his work of art, in which global satellite signals were used. With the expansion of the new building, the urban boundary at this location is in any case fading.
The work forms part of the project Stadsmarkeringen, The Books of Groningen, marking the city boundaries.
Location.
Paterswoldseweg (bij vijver Martini Ziekenhuis)
Facts & Figures.
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Design
Akira Asada -
Year of creation
1990 -
Art type
Freestanding sculpture, New media -
Material
Brick, Natural stone, Steel, Glass -
Dimensions
h 6,00 m