Figure tower (Figuurtoren)

About this artwork.

Eleven human figures stacked on top of each other together form a sculpture. The accumulation of what every day passes by our eye on the street - we see, among other things, two school-going girls, two boys with a football, a couple, a little girl calling someone - indicates that everyday life is a differentiation.

The eight-meter-high statue forms a playful contrast with the predominantly horizontal lines of the blocks of houses in the De Velden city area. In choosing the number 11, artist Elisabet Stienstra also sought interaction with the - urban development - history of the Oosterpark district. The oldest parts of the neighborhood were designed by J.P. Berlage. This architect and urban planner often started from a geometric design system in which the unit of measure of 11 cm (or a multiple thereof) determined the standard. In the fighouse, below the couple at the top of the statue, two men study a map; Stienstra thus portrays architect Berlage and his fellow engineer.
The number 11 also refers to the football history of the district; where De Velden is now, used to be the FC Groningen stadium. Finally, the material of the statue is also a reference to history: granite is a type of stone that was a favorite of sculptors at the time of the creation of the Oosterpark district around the 1930s and in the following decade. In the city of Groningen, the four granite statues that Willem Valk made for the Oude Kijk in’t Jatbrug in 1943 are an example of this.
 
Elisabet Stienstra (1967) studied at Academy Minerva from 1984 to 1988. After graduating, she left for Amsterdam to study at the Rijksacademie. Since then, the artist has made many sculptures of women, both autonomously and on commission. Her work is included in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem, Centro Arte Contemp Luigi Pecci Prato in Italy and in various private collections. The artwork for De Velden is her first sculpture in Groningen. In the spring of 2019, the unveiling was together with and for local residents.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Elisabet Stienstra

• District
  Oosterparkwijk

• Year of creation
  2019

• Art type
  Freestanding sculpture

• Material
  Granite

• Dimensions
  h 8,00 m.