manual for
N55 PEACE MONUMENT
N55 PEACE MONUMENT, Karup, Denmark, 2019
Introduction:
The N55 PEACE MONUMENT is a monument for peace and a playground in front of the headquarters of the Danish Defence. The monument offers the opportunity to take a break and enjoy the swings or the climbing holds and celebrate mankinds ability to play together instead of fighting each other.
N55's intention has been to create an object that respects the situation it finds itself in and the people who move around it on a daily basis. It expands and plays with the aesthetics of its surroundings and adds new meaning. It is a classic monument that honours the community and uses symbols. It is a sculpture and a monument with its own concrete life and simple geometric play. At the same time, it has a simple function as a swing and climbing holds. It is a meeting place, a hangout and a landmark.
N55 PEACE MONUMENT is a commission awarded to N55 by the Danish Visual Arts Foundation in collaboration with the Danish Defence.
Background:
Why would N55 accept a commission from the Danish Defence? We believe that the Danish Defence is a necessary institution and we respect the persons doing their jobs and working to try to provide peace in this way. We are strongly against some of the political decisions that Denmark has made to interfere actively in other countries. And this is a good example of what we are repeating all the time: We should always try to find ways of living with as small concentrations of power possible. This certainly applies to the military. We need a military to defend ourselves and our democracy but it should always be kept as small as possible.
We have intentionally been transferring money and ressources, since we started working with art as part of everyday life, from concentrations of power like states, various institutions like museums, foundations, municipalities, companies, private collectors etc, into N55 and used it to try to find new ways of thinking and living, that questions and criticises the same concentrations of power. We have always been trying to find ways of living with as small concentration of power as possible. Because of the fact that concentrations of power doesn’t necessarily respect the rights of persons and dominates our societies.
Description of the project:
The emphasis in the project is to contribute constructively and positively to creating a new narrative about the different cultures in the danish defence forces that are united in Karup. This was done with respect for the specific situation and the everyday lives of the people that N55 has been asked to relate to.
In the work, persons will be able to recognise a number of references to the aesthetics of the Danish Defence and the aesthetics associated with the work done by the Defence.
We also relate to the Defence's long tradition of using the monument as a form of communication.
We see the Defence as a necessary and useful social institution that protects the community and democratic values that are crucial to preserving our freedom. Also the freedom to disagree and to be different. It is a paradox that we need to arm ourselves in order to keep the peace. But it's a paradox we have to live with. This consideration was also included in the development of the project. Overall, the monument can be seen as a tribute to our inclusive, peaceful community and the strength our unity gives us in a broader sense.
N55's working method is to construct complex meaning by adding a series of simple elements together. Simple geometries are a hallmark. In addition, there is almost always a simple practical function in the work. This is also the case here. It was important to emphasise the seriousness, but also the joy and playfulness of human beings and to try to create a monument that can be used for something concrete and that can be touched. At the same time, it should function as a landmark in the flat landscape, as a meeting place and as a ‘Hangout’ when the weather permits.
Why does it look like this?
Art can be described as:
Persons and their meaningful behaviour with other persons and things in concrete situations
Our approach of course has been to find a respectful way to work in this context, with the people who has to be
confronted with this in their daily life. The Defence has been represented by a group of employees that has approved the project before we started to implement it.
Furthermore we have looked at the physical context. The different branches of the Danish Defence already have their own monuments in the area: A large tank and a fighterplane mounted on a pole etc. All quite large objects and camouflaged. So making a large steel object painted in camouflage seemed like a good starting point. There is a long historical tradition for building monuments in the danish military. These would often be very large and powerful objects intended to mark a historical event and instil respect. We have chosen to use the shape of a wellknown anti tank blocking device called a “czech hedgehog”. Since the tradition for monuments uses a lot of symbols, we have used a passive device like this as a symbol of defence. Furthermore it marks the unity of the three main branches of the Danish Defence in the way the three main tubes are united in a geometrical very strong way. Three bolts holds everything together. A simple narrative that is easy to grasp. This way of assembling things are also used by N55 in many other things like the XYZ CARGO bikes. The inspiration originally comes from the De Stijl movement and Gerrit Rietwelds chair.
The N55 PEACE MONUMENT is obviously useless and highly dysfunctional in a military sense. We have tried to undermine the authority of this large heavy object, by making it invisible with camouflage paint and by combining its symbolic functionality with functions from a children’s playground: Climbing holds and swingsets. In this way the monument becomes accessible and can provide the pleasure of looking at the sky resting on a peace-sign swing. Hopefully reminding the users of what they are here to protect. The peace sign is of course a very direct way of showing what we want to communicate. Since the headquarters of the Danish Defence is situated at an airbase, the peace signs are also visible from the sky.
We are proud to live in a society where a monument for peace is accepted in front of the headquarters of the defence. the guess is that it would not have been accepted in a similar place in the US, Russia or China...
This is what the visitors will see, from now on, flying or driving into the danish airforce base in Karup.
Technical details:
Elements:
3 square tubes, 12000 mm x 500 mm x 500 mm, 10 mm wall thickness, in black steel coated to C4 standard, galvanised + paint. End layer camouflage coloured in 2 colours.
Various welded-on brackets for lifting and swing suspension.
3 bird nest swings, one and a half metres in diameter with suspension.
Various climbing holds.
Bolts and nuts.
3 reinforced point foundations, each approx. 1 metre by 1.5 metres in plan, down to a frost-free depth of approx. 0.9 m.
Assembly:
After manufacturing the individual parts and casting the foundations, the 3 pipes were brought into position with 2 cranes and the bolts were inserted and tightened. The sculpture was then secured to the foundation with adhesive anchors.Finally, the swings and various small parts were installed.
Maintenance:
Swings are serviced according to the manufacturer's specifications. Besides that steel tubes are galvanised and painted to C4 standard. This means no maintenance/painting for minimum 20 years.
Dimensions in cm:
By N55/ ion Sørvin
Thanks to Anne Romme and Anne Bagger