- Title: World's biggest sculpture takes pride of place on Belgian highway
- Date: 13th August 2019
- Summary: LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE, ROCHEFORT, BELGIUM (AUGUST 13, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VEHICLES DRIVING ON HIGHWAY BY METAL SCULPTURE BUILDING SITE BUILDING SITE SEEN FROM HIGHWAY WORKERS ON SITE CRANE INSTALLING ELEMENTS OF METAL SCULPTURE METAL PIECES BEING ASSEMBLED WORKERS PULLING ROPES ON SITE SCULPTURE ELEMENT SUSPENDED FROM CRANE WORKERS ON BUILDING SITE WORKER ASSEMBLING METAL ELEMENTS PEOPLE LOOKING AT BUILDING SITE WORKERS LOOKING AT SCULPTURE FRENCH ARTIST, BERNAR VENET, LISTENING TO JOURNALIST METAL PIECE SUSPENDED FROM CRANE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH ARTIST, BERNAR VENET, SAYING: "Today, we are installing what everybody agrees to say the biggest sculpture in the world. So in itself, it's already something interesting. It's a sort of challenge but I hope that in the future, this will not be the first thing that we say about my sculpture. I hope that they will say that it is a fantastic piece, that it's absolutely right, it's absolutely the way it's supposed to be and so on, so the artistic quality will be more important than the size of the work." LORRY DRIVING BY BUILDING SITE VEHICLES DRIVING BY COMPLETED PART OF THE WORK WORKERS LOOKING AT CONSTRUCTION FROM ROADSIDE VENET ATTENDING CONSTRUCTION WORKERS TAKING PICTURES OF THEMSELVES IN FRONT OF ARTWORK (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH ARTIST, BERNAR VENET, SAYING: "The drivers will have different experiences. There are people who know my work and they will decide if it's like one of my major works, if it's a very good piece. They will have such a sophisticated sense of aesthetics that they will (look at it) exactly the same way I see it myself. Then, there are people who will say, 'Oh, that's cool, you know, it's very nice,' and then those who will say, 'What is that? Do we need something like this?' So, you cannot think about the average reaction. It's really a matter of knowing about contemporary art or not." PEOPLE TAKING PICTURES OF WORKERS IN FRONT OF SCULPTURE SCULPTURE BEING FINALISED
- Embargoed: 27th August 2019 16:59
- Keywords: Highway Art Steel Sculpture artist L'Arc Majeur Structure Metal Road Bernar Venet Belgium
- Location: LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE, ROCHEFORT, BELGIUM
- City: LAVAUX-SAINTE-ANNE, ROCHEFORT, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Art,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001AS1XYZD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The world's biggest sculpture, a half arc made from steel, is set to surprise drivers taking a scenic tour in the south of Belgium to France or Luxembourg.
Designed by French conceptual artist Bernar Venet and called "L'Arc Majeur," the 60-metre tall sculpture was installed at Lavaux-Sainte-Anne, a small town along the busy 411 highway, on Tuesday (August 13).
Venet said he hoped the public's perception of the work would evolve so that its "artistic quality will be more important than the size of the work."
The 78-year-old artist, who held his first major exhibition in Paris in 1965 and has lived in New York City since 1997, said he expected different reactions from people driving through it, adding it would depend if they're knowledgeable "about contemporary art or not."
Venet had initially wanted to install the sculpture, made from 200 tonnes of steel and set in 2,800 tonnes of concrete, in France but ran into various obstacles and eventually found a home for it in Belgium.
(Production: Christian Levaux, Alexandra Regida, Clement Rossignol) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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