Architectural Fragment

 

A fallen building?
One could be forgiven for thinking this to be a broken building from the classical Greek era. This bluestone sculpture titled "Architectural Fragment" is the creation of Petrus Spronk. Born in Holland, he immigrated to Austrlia in 1957 and trained as a ceramicist and sculptor in South Australia, He was commissioned to undertake Architectural Fragment for the Swanston Street Walk Public Art Project in 1992, the work was unveiled the following year.

Located outside the State Library of Victoria, this Port Fairy bluestone sculpture represents a fragment of the library emerging from the footpath as an archaeological artefact might. It was conceived to engage with its environment, visually connecting to its surroundings through form and material.

His inspiration was Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Ozymandias". Quoting from the poem, the pedestal reads: "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my work you Mighty, and despair." Architectural Fragment is a Pythagorean triangle, which expresses a strong association with the geometry of ancient Greece. Like a fallen classical monument, it reflects the past and alludes to the transcience of the present.

Today's Quote: Life is short, the art long - Hippocrates.