Bernar Venet Sculpture Garden at Oyster Creek Park
It is Bernar Venet’s belief that the function of artist is to explore and discover “lands that are unknown.” In this regard Venet has been interested in the function of line because it is the basis of drawing. Originally Venet would trace straight and curved lines on white canvas with black paint. A few years later his work evolved and he was creating lines made of wood that he painted black and hung on walls. It was extremely important to Venet how the lines and curves were arranged when they were put on display. For him they were installations and they were set in place according to the space with which he had to work. Eventually Venet had an idea to liberate lines from mathematics and to make lines that did not resemble any known image. With his monumental sculptures Venet forges spatial perspectives, angles, and forms that surprise, challenge, and ultimately expand the perception of the viewer. Sculptures like Three Indeterminate Lines and 97.5° Arc x 9 are studies in variations of lines, and are examples of his latest work.
Indeterminate Lines, along with Arcs, are the works which best characterize Bernar Venet’s creations, and have earned him international recognition. Venet’s approach with Indeterminate Lines, consists of addressing the technical and physical feat represented by the twisting of these thick beams of steel and the opposition of the material to the artist’s intentions. These rolled steel lines, without any welded or attached pieces, express the struggle between the steel and the artist.
Whenever one stands to view one of Bernar Venet’s Indeterminate Lines, one can never deduce a finite solid form from them. When one walks around the sculpture the line stretches out or contracts, its loops seem to unwind themselves or tie themselves into inextricable knots.
Each series of Straight Lines express different notions of Venet’s interest in the mathematics of order versus chaos. Bernar Venet’s use of line is strongly influenced by mathematical equations reduced to their purest element - two points in space converging together. All of Venet’s sculptures that have these connections to mathematics such as the Arcs and Straight Lines can be measured with a ruler, triangle, or protractor.
In 12 Straight Lines over 29 feet of steel beams rise vertically to meet at the top of their summit. The abrupt ending signifies the transitory and arbitrary nature of their verticality. The piece also bears a connection to Gothic or Romanesque architecture as each beam supports another.
More Information
Please call the City of Sugar Land Parks and Recreation Department on 281.275.2825.
Bernar Venet Sculpture Garden at Oyster Creek Park
Loading image. Please wait
