Grön eld, Umeå
Grön eld (Fire in Green) is a glass sculpture by Vicke Lindstrand at Järnvägstorget, which is located in front of Umeå Central Station, in Umeå, Sweden. It was, at nine meters, the tallest glass sculpture in the world at the time of its inauguration in 1970.[1]
History
Sven Wallander, the head of HSB, commissioned the sculpture after he had seen the glass sculpture Prisma by Vicke Lindstrand in Norrköping. HSB donated Grön eld to Umeå Municipality, which paid for the foundation.[1]
Lennart Johansson, who assembled the sculpture in 1970, told the press in December 2013 that he had hidden an image of Mao Zedong in one of the glass flames of the sculpture.[2][3]
The sculpture
Grön eld consists of three twisted glass pillars that grow thinner at the top. The glass pillars are constructed of three thousand, nine millimeter thin, plates of glass made by Emmaboda glasverk in Sweden. The glass pieces are glued together with epoxy glue in order to cope with the harsh climate. The nine meter high sculpture weighs 45 tons and is standing on a heavy concrete pedestal with a piled foundation.[1]
References
[1]
"Skulptören Vicke Lindstrand". Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
[2]
"Mao Zedong gömd i svenskt konstverk". Dagens Nyheter. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
[3] Sindra Grahn (5 December 2013).
"Mao gömd i känd Umeå-skulptur". SVT. Retrieved 30 April 2014.