Seek and Ye Shall Find...

Until we found an article on Delpher from Nieuwsblad van het Noorden [6 Nov 1974] clearly showing the object, that is. The article reports how in 1974 the sculpture was donated by contractor the Amsterdamse Aannemings Maatschappij, to celebrate the opening of the newly built Biological Center in Haren part of National University of Groningen (RuG).

Ecstatic about this lead, we contacted the staff of the museum collection of the University of Groningen. Weeks after our e-mail, Jan Waling Huisman, depot manager of the university museum, called Kim; he had not been able to find the sculpture in the archives, nor at the original location, which was now called Biotoop Groningen, a creative breeding ground housing a collective of artists and small businesses [inspired by New Babylon maybe?].

Then on November 5th, as Kim was creating an Instagram post to ask people online for help locating the object, Jan called. He was standing next to it right then and there.

After the sculpture was donated to the Biology Center in Haren in 1974, it was on show in the air bridge in the Biology building on Kerklaan in Haren. It was visible from both from the start of the foot bridge and from reception. It resided there till 2011 when the department moved to a new location. In the pandemonium of the move the sculpture was left behind. When a professor went back to the building to pick up some equipment it was already inhabited by anti-squat groups, she saw the sculpture and arranged for it to be moved to the new location. It was only later that they found out who the artist was. Had it not been for the intervention of this person Nébulose Mécanique [VI] may have ended up on the scrapheap.

It is with much gratitude to Jan Waling, who decided that shortly before his retirement this was a quest worthy of his time and the professor for the keen eye and decisive action. It goes to show how much our work relies on passionate people, willing to lend a hand.

Kim van der Horst | Director of Fondation Constant