Roslagens Sparbank, Norrtälje, 2006
←Public works

2006 · Norrtälje

Roslagens Sparbank, Norrtälje, 2006

Bronze fountain and sculptural installation commissioned by Roslagens Sparbank. Three round stone bases with regional motifs: the sea, Söderarm lighthouse, and Dürer's polyhedron with fossils. Cast in bronze with a chemically oxidized patina by the Ulf Ferrius foundry in Thailand. Inaugurated June 9, 2006.

The fountain's design allows the falling water to create movements, reflections, and shifts in light, finally disappearing down through the grate surrounding the fountain's plinth.

The fountain is enclosed by paving which in the evening darkness appears as an "inverted" constellation. It is cast in bronze and has been given a brownish-ochre, oxidized surface layer.
The observant viewer discovers embossed words in the bronze – loose words without direct internal connection, but with the individual word's content, poetic possibility, and its unfinished expression.

The three round stone plinths describe "time" and "space" on their upper surface.

One with a depicted section of a sea and its archipelago.

The second with a blinking lighthouse – Söderarm – on a granite islet and with the mail boat Poseidon in sight.

On the third plinth, our time's Euclidean geometry meets in the form of Albrecht Dürer's polyhedron with two casts of 400-million-year-old stromatoporoid fossils.

Stromatoporoids (Stromatoporoidea) are an extinct group of animals initially classified as cnidarians.

In Sweden, significant amounts of fossil remains of stromatoporoids are found on Gotland, whose bedrock is composed of coral reefs from the Silurian period. There, the massive fossil skeletons of stromatoporoids are often called "cat skulls" or "aitlar".
The memorial plaque bears the following text:

Roslagens Sparbank wishes with this artwork to create an attractive meeting place in Norrtälje.

The commission to design the artwork and the site was given to the sculptor Sivert Lindblom.

The various objects included in the artistic design were cast by Ulf Ferrius bronze foundry in Prachinburi in northeastern Thailand.

They have collaborated on many projects, including the advanced "fountain construction" at Gustav Adolfs torg in Malmö.

In addition to Roslagens Sparbank, Gunnar Björklunds Stiftelse has also contributed funds.

The inauguration of the fountain in Norrtälje took place on June 9, 2006.

"The fountain and the three smaller sculptures are cast in bronze and patinated with chemical oxidation.
The fountain's form allows the falling water to create movement, reflections, and sound, finally disappearing through the grate surrounding the fountain's plinth. In the evening darkness, an "inverted" constellation appears in the surrounding paving.

If you are observant, you can discover words embossed in the bronze – without internal connection, but with the individual word's content and poetic possibilities.

On the three round stone plinths, time and space are described through sections of sea and archipelago.

The blinking lighthouse, Söderarm, on its granite islet and the mail boat Poseidon on its way.

On the third plinth, our time's geometry meets in the form of Dürer's polyhedron and the 400-million-year-old stromatoporoid fossils." / SL

"Stromatoporoids are extinct marine organisms that lived from the Cambrian to the Cretaceous periods, but were most prominent during the Silurian and Devonian periods. They were reef-building organisms long suspected to be corals, but are today classified as calcareous sponges. Fossils of these colony-forming animals have built up massive skeletons of calcium carbonate and are known for their layered structures (laminae) and their vertical pillars.
Throughout Sivert's artistic language, the feeling recurs that external and long-term processes have influenced the expression in his art."

/ JÖ

Photographer: Jan Öqvist, Sivert Lindblom

⊙ View location

⊙ Norrtälje

←Public works⊙Map