Growth symbol (Groeisymbool)

About this artwork.

In 1972, Growth symbol was given a place in the pond at the then newly completed Rabobank head office on Pleiadenlaan. The client Rabobank donated the work of art to the municipality of Groningen a year later.

The sculpture consists of three high pylons rising straight out of the water and is surrounded by fourteen shot-shaped elements rising out of the water. A fountain sprays the water up along the pylons and allows it to splash on the floes. Underwater lighting turns the fountain statue into white light in the evening. At the time, artist Jacob van der Meij described the artwork as a symbol of bursting earth, in which the three “polyps” rising from the water and the bright white lights at night express the primal power and energy of the earth. With Growth symbol, Van Der Meij also wanted to give a reaction to the current structure of society “in which a flattening horizontalism, a chilling supermarket atmosphere, a lack of amazement, a lack of shudder; emotion when the sun rises and respect for an age-old tree prevails”. The contrast between the chilly society and a centuries-old tree is expressed by the austere building and the whimsical and organically shaped sculpture respectively.

Van der Meij followed a remarkable process for the production of Growth symbol. As moulds he used wooden formwork covered with polystyrene on the inside. He tackled this surface with a welding device, so that parts of the foam melted away and pieces clumped together. After doing this, he poured the moulds full of aluminium concrete that solidified into these capricious shapes – as if the image had not been created by human hands, but by growth and erosion.
 
For years, the underwater lighting and the fountain effect of the statue had been out of operation. With the discontinuation of all fountains in the city in 1973, the municipality of Groningen believed it could make a meaningful contribution to combating the oil crisis. It was not until twenty years later, in 1993, that the fountain function of the artwork was restored.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Jacob van der Meij

• District
  Paddepoel (incl. Tuinwijk)

• Year of creation
  1972

• Art type
  Freestanding sculpture, Fountain

• Material
  Aluminum concrete

• Dimensions
  h ca. 7,00 m