I am glad to see that during difficult times art can make people feel good. Finally a moment without complaining about austerity measures, or the accusation of art being elite.
Last Sunday (March 27) some of the roads to the centre of Amersfoort were closed to welcome the new art work ‘The Bull’ (2011) in a festive way. The object is five meters high and was put on a truck which was pulled by sixty men and women – old and young – to get it to its destination. Hundreds of people came to see how this statue by Thijs Trompert was put on a roundabout. There was a lot of attention for this spectacle in the local newspaper ‘Amersfoort City,’ otherwise I would have completely missed it.
Personally I rather liked the first bull that was on this same spot before. The animal was made of short, wooden laths, which seemed to point in all directions. The chosen material fitted the animal according to its facial expression and looked therefore very wild. This first bull was all about the suggestion of movement, it seemed that its place on the roundabout was a stop for only a moment. Like it had just arrived and might take off any second to run recklessly into the city centre or into the village. Apparently this is what some people really feared, because vandalism was the end of this bull.
From the pictures of the newspaper it is clear that the second bull also gives the impression of temper and is perhaps even better suited to the city of rocks that Amersfoort is. This bronze artwork is composed as one whole piece and has a more closed character. It radiates firmness, as much as the man high rocks that are scattered throughout the city. This animal with an attitude also has a striking lively feature: something seems to attract his attention, so he turns his head and he sweeps his tail wildly.
I sincerely hope that this work of art ‘The Bull’ will adorn the city of Amersfoort for a long time may. And that I can soon see it up close. If it suddenly has a blue ribbon as a Blue Mark, you know enough I would say. But given its height it seems more convenient to knit two pairs of blue legwarmers for him.
Click here for the report in the newspaper ‘Amersfoort City.’
Click here for the project ‘Our Bull.’
Click here for the artist’s site Thijs Trompert.
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This post is also available in: Dutch