FOS
The Interior of Inés
- ArtistFOS
- LocationAalborg, Denmark
JULIE SILBERMANN I’m fascinated by the space where art and design merge. One of the artists whose work I’ve followed for years is the Danish artist FOS, who creates pieces that exist and explore the boundaries between art, architecture and design - works that open spaces for human encounters. One such piece is the tower The Interior of Inés – a 14-meter-tall installation or tower outside Aalborg. As you ascend the 53 steps toward the top of the structure, you encounter a variety of building materials before reaching the panoramic view.
The Interior of Inés
A 14 meter high tower offering a great view over the recreational area Vestre Fjordpark. The tower consists of 53 steps, concrete, metal staircases, wooden poles and a thatched roof giving shelter for wind and weather.
Sensory overview
The Danish artist FOS has created a tall observation tower on a hill in Vestre Fjordpark Aalborg, and it is his most complicated architectural work to date.
“The tower came to me because the place is so strikingly horizontal – and to contribute to the spirit of the place, I wanted to create a vertical form. Something that stood up and could compete with the ten-meter seesaw of the outdoor pool”, says FOS, who describes his work as a piece of architectural sculpture that creates and points to a place, a view and a situation:
“The interior of Inés, which is the title of the work, is an architectural frame with sculptural elements. The horizontal and the vertical are part of our understanding of the surroundings, as we perceive it horizontally, but process it vertically down through the body. By creating a tower that you can actually climb, our horizontal view of the landscape is raised. I hope that my work will point to that relationship”, says FOS, who quickly adds: “But beyond that, I consider my work most of all as 1:1. A tower is a tower is a tower”.
Activity and movement
A tower consists of a base, supporting columns, a staircase and a roof. Here, each element is made of its own material. Together, these form this “sculpture” consisting of concrete, wood, fiberglass and a covered roof.
“In this way, a tension arises between the different structures, surfaces and shapes in the work, which together create a closed structure for the tower. So when you move up the tower, you move past concrete, along wooden columns, through a fiberglass cassette, and further up under a covered roof,” explains FOS.
National reference
FOS is fascinated by craftsmanship. Such as thatching.
“I thought it was interesting to take elements from the history of buildings such as the thatched roof and then try to work with it in a different way, as it screams for a sculptural treatment”, says FOS.
The title The interior of Inés arose when an acquaintance in Mexico City gave birth to a deeper and new title.
"A producer helped with a piece while he was expecting a child with his girlfriend. But complications created great anxiety and emotional frustrations, as he did not know if the child would survive. Two weeks ago I was told that the child was born alive, but that it is not certain that she will survive. They have named her Inés. And now she is also having a tower named after her - but they don't seem to know anything about that in Mexico," says FOS.
He explains that Interior has a double meaning, as it covers both an inner, psychological space and an outer area outside in the landscape.
“As mentioned here, the vertical and horizontal are part of our understanding of the world, so this title speaks more of a double view of an inner interior and an exterior.”
