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Morten Stræde, 2013

About the work

Morten Stræde’s sculpture, located at Vejle Art Museum, is called Geist. It means spirit or ghost. The large sculpture depicts a figure in motion, with two legs placed on each of the two plinths. The sculpture is mainly dark blue, and the shape is abstract.

The sculpture refers to the futuristic sculptor Umberto Boccioni, who in 1913 created the first sculpture ever, with two plinths, where most sculptures only have one plinth. Boccioni’s sculpture was a body standing with one leg one step in front of the other, so a plinth was needed for each foot. Geist also stands on two plinths, one for each foot.

The sculpture can be called both Geist and Ghost. Geist means spirit in German. The title of the sculpture is also put into play by the sculpture’s play with light and darkness, which is one of the sculpture’s main narratives. Geist or Ghost is also about the visible as opposed to the invisible. Geist resembles a body and is erect like a body with limbs. The sculpture is midnight blue, and a large part of its appearance is based on the “stealth” technology used by the military to achieve radar invisibility.

 

About the artist

Morten Stræde (b. 1956) is a trained sculptor from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1985, where he also worked as a professor from 1994 to 2003. He lives and works in Copenhagen and Berlin. Morten Stræde has collaborated with architects and engineers on urban planning and art in the public urban space. He has influenced many cityscapes in Denmark with significant fountains and sculptures, also in Vejle where he, among other things, was behind the project with Vejle’s new bridges on Dæmningen.

Morten Stræde has also created the sculpture Helix, which is located at Vestergade 29, as well as the water sculpture/basin on Nørretorv.

Kort over Vejle midtby

Sculp­ture guide

The sculpture guide provides you with an overview on some of the sculptures there is to be found in Vejle. Go for a walk downtown and experience the art.

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