Creative output submission
Poetry Stand | Stand van poësie
2017
Creative output submission
2017
Poetry Stand | Stand van poësie
Creative output submission
Poetry Stand Stand van poësie
2017
Overview
The Poetic Stand is a bicycle stand designed for the university town of Stellenbosch. This piece of functional, urban furniture honours the Department of Afrikaans/Nederlands of the University of Stellenbosch which celebrated its centenary in 2018. Three Stellenbosch University graduate laureate poets, namely DJ Opperman, Lina Spies and Adam Small (D Litt Hon Causa), are represented in the stand as emblematic characters of Afrikaans poetry.
Creative research submissions
2020
As part of the submission by Pieter Mathews in collaboration with Dr. Hendrik Auret from the Department of Architecture of the University of Free State
Creative research submissions
2020
As part of the submission by Pieter Mathews in collaboration with Dr. Hendrik Auret from the Department of Architecture of the University of Free State
Overview
The Poetic Stand is a bicycle stand designed for the university town of Stellenbosch. This piece of functional, urban furniture honours the Department of Afrikaans/Nederlands of the University of Stellenbosch which celebrated its centenary in 2018. Three Stellenbosch University graduate laureate poets, namely DJ Opperman, Lina Spies and Adam Small (D Litt Hon Causa), are represented in the stand as emblematic characters of Afrikaans poetry.
Academic Framework: Poetry as the archetypal act of making within an inter-disciplinary field
The German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, saw poetry as a particularly vital aspect of human existence: “Poetry does not fly above and surmount the earth in order to escape it and hover over it. Poetry is what first brings [mortals] onto the earth, making [them] belong to it, and thus brings [them] into dwelling” (Heidegger 1951:216). Poetry bestows a ‘human measure’ on the world, gently draws it close and establishes the conditions for a meaningful relationship of ‘poetic dwelling’. The poet establishes the kind of intimate contiguity wherein we may be overwhelmed by “the essential nearness of things” (Heidegger 1936:124). It is telling that the Afrikaans translation of ‘being close by’ – digby – has the same root as the word digter – Afrikaans for poet – reinforcing the notion that only through poetry we can truly be close to the world. In a general sense, one could argue that the capacities Heidegger ascribed to the poet is emblematic of all acts of making, since they are all descendants of the Ancient Greek term for making, namely poiesis. The bicycle stand delves into this rich seam of interdisciplinary thought, addressing the overlap between poetry, sculpture and ultimately architecture as a spatial act of creation.
In his essay Architecture’s Expanded Field (2004) the architectural critic Anthony Vidler explains that the issue of the specificity of any artistic medium and how it relates to other forms of art, is oftentimes indeterminate (Vidler 2004:368). Vidler acknowledges that architecture is always considered in theories that pertain to the different modalities of art, but contends that a case can be made for its inclusion, as “…[architecture] partakes of and participates in all of the arts in question” (Vidler 2004:370).
Vidler specifically questions the validity of a separation between architecture and sculpture by appealing to ideas of the “aesthetically constructed spatial” object, and the “functionally constructed spatial” object (Vidler 2004:370). Vidler argues that, as artists like Dan Graham, Richard Serra (and Gordon Froud locally) show, “architecture has invaded sculpture” (Vidler 2004:370). The bicycle stand can be seen as a spatial construct that is both aesthetic and functional.
This ambiguity between functional art and formalistic architecture introduces the possibility for a new definition of architecture or sculpture based on “use” or “uselessness”. This definition, however, is again cast into doubt by artwork that become spatial constructions eliciting bodily movement through it, as exemplified by Richard Serra’s sculpture series Torqued Ellipse (1996) (Vidler 2004:372).
Alternatively, in line with Rosalind Krauss’s “Expanded Field” diagram, historic sculpture could be attributed to its “monumentality or commemorative qualities” (Vidler 2004:374). As these qualities started to disappear from architecture due to modernist abstraction which culminated in the loss of “site”, so too, did modernist sculpture become nomadic and site-less.
Creative contribution
It is within this debate that the bicycle stand finds its poetic voice. It is an object that, at first glance, is merely aesthetic and metaphorical, but proves to be both functional and spatial. As such, it draws the worlds of poetry, sculpture and architecture into contiguity.
The bicycle stand can be seen as a sculptural work in the sense that it is an ‘aesthetically constructed spatial object’ that commemorates three significant Afrikaans poets. It is composed of abstract lines tracing the profile and relief of each poet’s face. The profiles were condensed and laser-cut from mild steel and welded to a central axis to create an evocative sculptural element. The resultant sculptural form is stark, yet sensuous, and relies on its abstractive allure to activate the urban space in which it is placed (with or without bicycles).
In addition to these sculptural qualifiers, the ‘functional spatial’ nature of the bicycle stand qualifies it as an architectural object. Its function, a bicycle stand, prompts interaction with the object itself as well as the spaces created between the three profiles – between the object and the urban surroundings in which it is placed. A charcoal colour was chosen to etch the three profiles and provide contrast with the dominantly white architecture of the context – temporarily in front of the Skuinshuis and historic synagogue in Stellenbosch, and later permanently at the Pniël Museum where the annual Adam Small literary festival is held. This not only highlights the bicycle stand, but draws attention to the architectural heritage of the region.
Through its transparency and abstract lines, it poetically densifies the surroundings; drawing together views of the built surroundings, memories of poetry, moments of light and shadow, and the seemingly utilitarian act of storing your bicycle into a new poetic gathering. It is, as Vidler describes, a work of “not-exactly-architecture” (Vidler 2004:365), which brings the world closer in solidarity with the poets it memorialises, admirably fulfiling its poetic task.
Public profile
The bicycle stand was donated to the Pniël Museum by the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust on the first of June 2019 where it is on permanent display (Rivier Street, Pniël). It was previously on public display at Die Skuinshuis & The Synagogue (44 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch) from 2018 – 2019. The Poetic Stand has been published on various online platforms.
Bibliography
Project Publications
Archello. 2020. Poetic Stand | Mathews + Associates Architects | Archello. [online] Available at: <https://archello.com/project/poetic-stand> [Accessed 19 June 2020].
Sost.co.za. 2020. Home. [online] Available at: <http://www.sost.co.za> [Accessed 19 June 2020].
Work cited
Heidegger, M. 1936. Hölderlin and the essence of poetry. Translated by Veith, J. In: Figal, G. (ed.). 2009. The Heidegger reader. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 117-129.
Heidegger, M. 1951. … Poetically man dwells … Translated by Hofstadter, A. In: Hofstadter, A. (ed.). 2001. Poetry, language, thought. New York: Harper Perennial, pp. 211-227.
Vidler, A. 2004. Architecture’s Expanded Field. Sykes, A. (ed.) 2010 Constructing a New Agenda: Architectural Theory 1993-2009. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 318-331
*Note: permission was obtained from Lina Spies, Didi Opperman and Dr Rosalie Small to use the profiles of the poets.