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jaargang 42, 15 juni 2000 English page

Art Committee Looks for Inspiration and Excitement “Art is essential to our environment at TUE. I’d even say it was important to our health,” says drs. Aat Vervoorn, chairman of the TUE Art Committee. “We try to find works that will get people’s attention. Add a bit of spice to our work environment. Make us curious and get us thinking. We don’t want any cute decoration, we want inspiration and excitement.” Over the last forty years TUE has built a substantial art collection. Because of some wise choices by the committee - past and present - the works are now certainly worth millions of guilders. Vervoorn is reticient about estimating financial value, perhaps not wanting to attract thieves. Although more appreciation for the works on view at TUE might be a good thing, as art is sometimes damaged or lost. Valuable sculptures on campus are often found defaced by all sorts of doodles, chewing gum, stickers etc. This year works were lent to a number of museums, and three or four new applications are under consideration. One of the top pieces at TUE, now part of an exhibition in Basel, is a strange aeroplane-like contraption by Panamarenko, a Belgian artist famous for his parodies on technological themes. Aat Vervoorn and a plastic art sculpture by Frans Peters. Photo by Bram Saeys. Not for Sale But according to Vervoorn, the question of value is neither here nor there. “None of the sculptures and graphic art are for sale. We have no storerooms full of art we want to get rid of. Everything is functional, so to speak. I view the value of the collection more in a creative sense. The way art enriches our campus environment has more day to day importance than any financial worth it might have accrued. Art at TUE is not meant to be a financial investment, it’s more of an investment in the atmosphere on campus.” The TUE Art Committee is open to ‘excellent’ suggestions by students and staff. “We’re looking for top level, high quality art. We’re not limited to a particular country - some of our pieces are from artists in Belgium and Italy, to name a few places,” Vervoorn continues. “On the other hand, there is a lot of excellent work being done in the Netherlands and right here in Eindhoven. We sometimes work with a group of local graphic artists who are planning to move their workshop to a location on TUE campus, a group called ‘Grafisch Atelier Daglicht’. Their work has some very technical aspects, as a lot of it involves different printing techniques.” Technological TUE traditionally limits itself to two forms of art: sculpture and graphic art. “This is mainly because other forms like paintings are impractical security-wise. The kind of art we buy often has a technological feel to it.” The committee no longer has any fixed budget. The seven experts that comprise its membership have been charged with ‘proposing projects’ i.e. advising the Executive Board on what it should buy. After that the Executive Board takes care of financing. “We would like to add to our collection of large sculptures. We’ve recommended a group of tall stone figures for the entrance to TUE campus. We’d also like to see more examples of modern schools of art on campus. Land art is an interesting example. Broadly speaking, land art uses landscape as an integral part of a sculpture. We’ve got a location at TUE in mind, and an artist we’d like to contract, but this is all still very preliminary.” Debate One of the last sizeable acquisitions at TUE was the ‘One Victory’ project by Narcisse Tordoir in the Chemical Engineering building. The work is accompanied by a number of texts by Allard Schröder. Costs were about 100.000 guilders. “An artwork may have various functions. We hope that from time to time, Tordoir’s work will provoke Socratic debate, discussion that aims to search and find. Because searching and finding, by universal people, is our core business at this university,” writes Chairman of the Executive Board dr. ir. Henk de Wilt in an introductory booklet on the ‘One Victory’. Asked what he thinks of the ‘Flying Pins’ recently placed near the campus entrance by the city of Eindhoven, Vervoorn says any art is a welcome addition to public space. “It’s a pity they couldn’t have given the assignment to a more modern artist, who might have made a more exciting contribution. Pop Art is really a bit passé. On the other hand, the Pins certainly brighten up our entrance.”/.