"We've had art at DTU since the university was founded, because it inspires our employees, students, and visitors."
At the inauguration, this was how Provost Rasmus Larsen introduced the artwork, which has been titled Indsande as it recreates an inland dune area, and there's a special reason for this: DTU is located on top of an old meltwater plain.
Rasmus Larsen emphasized that the work is intended to inspire passers-by:
"It's hard to say what researchers or students will think when they walk past the artwork, but I'm sure it will make people reflect."
The work was created by the artist Astrid Myntekær and the landscape architect Sophie Sahlqvist, who were preoccupied with the idea of creating a work in which art and landscape merge into one:
"The landscape's 'task' was to create a new habitat for the giant insect," says Sophie Sahlqvist about 'Inland Dune'. There's also a specific idea behind the sculpture's impressive size. Sophie Sahlqvist elaborates: "The insect has grown large to survive in a new environment."
Astrid Myntekær is fascinated by insects—their appearance, shape, and ways of life—but she's also aware that they can pose a threat or danger. However, this huge metal insect isn't intended to threaten or endanger anyone, but rather to highlight both the threatened and threatening status of insects.
The metal was cut up and folded out in three dimensions using an origami-like technique. Then it was sandblasted so its surface matches the raw aesthetics of the sand dune.
The work was donated by the foundation 'Købmand i Odense Johan og Hanne Weimann Født Seedorffs Legat'. If you want to see the work for yourself, building 303A is open to the public from 07:30 to 17:00 from Monday to Thursday and from 07:30 to 16:00 on Fridays.
