Copenhagen Cathedral on Fire
17/09/07 12:28 Copenhagen Cathedral on Fire
- A symbolic monument to the terror of the past
September 1st - 11th, 2007
Copenhagen Cathedral
Nørregade 8
DK - 1165 København K.
City on Fire
On September 1st, 2007, a radical and spectacular art exhibition opens in the Church of Our Lady: The Danish-Argentinean artist duo Thyra Hilden & Pio Diaz will set Copenhagen Cathedral on fire. Or rather: the vaults and the altar section – with Thorvaldsen´s world renowned and moving sculpture of Christ – will serve as projection surfaces for video projections showing a violent fire, that will be ’ignited’ every night between September 1st – 11th.
Copenhagen Cathedral on Fire is part of Thyra Hilden & Pio Diaz´ international, aesthetic manifestation City on Fire. Around the end of the year 2005 the duo exhibited their first installations in Rome at the Danish Institute and the Trevi Fountain respectively. It was not a coincidence that Rome became the first setting for the project, seeing that the city possesses a significant symbolic value, that is closely related to the intentions of City on Fire.
The subtitle of the first ‘burnings’ – and later also of the installation ARoS on Fire, which was shown in Aarhus in January 2007 – was ”Burning the Roots of Western Culture”; and even if City on Fire is not meant as a political but rather as an aesthetic manifesto, the work contains at its core a fundamental wish to direct attention to the destruction that is a latent part of Western culture. This is also emphasized by the installation Copenhagen Cathedral on Fire, which marks the bicentennial of the English bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807.
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September 1st - 11th, 2007
Copenhagen Cathedral
Nørregade 8
DK - 1165 København K.
City on Fire
On September 1st, 2007, a radical and spectacular art exhibition opens in the Church of Our Lady: The Danish-Argentinean artist duo Thyra Hilden & Pio Diaz will set Copenhagen Cathedral on fire. Or rather: the vaults and the altar section – with Thorvaldsen´s world renowned and moving sculpture of Christ – will serve as projection surfaces for video projections showing a violent fire, that will be ’ignited’ every night between September 1st – 11th.
Copenhagen Cathedral on Fire is part of Thyra Hilden & Pio Diaz´ international, aesthetic manifestation City on Fire. Around the end of the year 2005 the duo exhibited their first installations in Rome at the Danish Institute and the Trevi Fountain respectively. It was not a coincidence that Rome became the first setting for the project, seeing that the city possesses a significant symbolic value, that is closely related to the intentions of City on Fire.
The subtitle of the first ‘burnings’ – and later also of the installation ARoS on Fire, which was shown in Aarhus in January 2007 – was ”Burning the Roots of Western Culture”; and even if City on Fire is not meant as a political but rather as an aesthetic manifesto, the work contains at its core a fundamental wish to direct attention to the destruction that is a latent part of Western culture. This is also emphasized by the installation Copenhagen Cathedral on Fire, which marks the bicentennial of the English bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807.
Read More...Fire as Spiritual and Holy Symbol By Julie Damgaard
21/06/07 18:02 Fire as Spiritual and Holy Symbol
By Julie Damgaard
The Eternal Fire
The flame is an image of fundamental properties for the living and human existence. - Peer F. Bundgård(1).
Fire: it has been with us ever since mankind first encountered it. It has been an indispensable, if not always trustworthy, partner in our historical development. With fire we keep a stark relationship with a sometimes faithless character: fully restrained one moment, wholly undisciplined the next. It brings us warmth, but also burns. It keeps danger away, but also reveals our presence. Summons to poetic revery, but also hypnotizes and dazzles us. At times it has left us abandoned, only to return again. Of the four elements– earth, fire, water, and air –fire is the ardent brother. Despite its tumultuous temperament, despite the fact that it is composed not only of benevolent, but also malicious powers, of these four elemental “siblings” it is fire that mankind has always been able to identify with best. Like us, fire is one of the living – a living, upright creature. It is born, needs nourishment and oxygen, it ages and dies. Read More...
The flame is an image of fundamental properties for the living and human existence. - Peer F. Bundgård(1).
Fire: it has been with us ever since mankind first encountered it. It has been an indispensable, if not always trustworthy, partner in our historical development. With fire we keep a stark relationship with a sometimes faithless character: fully restrained one moment, wholly undisciplined the next. It brings us warmth, but also burns. It keeps danger away, but also reveals our presence. Summons to poetic revery, but also hypnotizes and dazzles us. At times it has left us abandoned, only to return again. Of the four elements– earth, fire, water, and air –fire is the ardent brother. Despite its tumultuous temperament, despite the fact that it is composed not only of benevolent, but also malicious powers, of these four elemental “siblings” it is fire that mankind has always been able to identify with best. Like us, fire is one of the living – a living, upright creature. It is born, needs nourishment and oxygen, it ages and dies. Read More...
ARoS Museum
17/01/07 11:58 ARoS Museum
- Burning the Roots of Western Culture
The Illusion of Fire
In the first month of the New Year a rare work of art can be experienced in ARoS Museum of Art in Århus, the biggest museum in Scandinavia. It appears in the darkness of the evening like a violent arson attack on the successful museum at the top of a hill in the centre of the city. It is the Danish-Argentinean artist couple, Thyra Hilden & Pio Diaz who figuratively speaking set fire to AroS with their video project ‘City on Fire’. With this seductive and spectacular gesture they point to the fragility and temporary character of the building, thereby helping to contribute to destabilising the familiar picture of the city of Århus.
Read More...
The Illusion of Fire
In the first month of the New Year a rare work of art can be experienced in ARoS Museum of Art in Århus, the biggest museum in Scandinavia. It appears in the darkness of the evening like a violent arson attack on the successful museum at the top of a hill in the centre of the city. It is the Danish-Argentinean artist couple, Thyra Hilden & Pio Diaz who figuratively speaking set fire to AroS with their video project ‘City on Fire’. With this seductive and spectacular gesture they point to the fragility and temporary character of the building, thereby helping to contribute to destabilising the familiar picture of the city of Århus.
Read More...
