Dansk
Det hele begynder allerede på gaden udenfor P. Nørkjærs Plads med en stor farvestrålende portal af glaserede kakler. Lokkes man indenfor af denne portal åbner der sig et overraskende byrum i hjertet af Hjørring. Et rum og en plads dramatisk iscenesat af Bjørn Nørgaard, der i al sin vælde henleder tankerne på et stort Gesamtkunstværk af wagnerske dimensioner.
P. Nørkjærs Plads blev indviet 5. juni 1989. Pladsen har navn efter Peter Nørkjær, der økonomisk gjorde projektet muligt. Peter Nørkjær var en af Hjørrings allerførste bilforhandlere. Han startende som beslagsmed med lærerplads hos smeden i Try i begyndelsen af århundredet og sluttede som bilforhandler med en blomstrende virksomhed i Hjørring. Nørkjær samlede før sin død sin formue i en fond, og hans sønner har med fondens donation villet minde faderen. Dette store projekt er altså opstået helt og holdent på privat initiativ og for private penge, uden aktiv deltagelse fra kommunen hverken idémæssigt eller økonomisk.
Pladsen er 1600 m² stor, og bygningerne er udført af arkitektfirmaet Kjeld Bjerg, mens det store anlæg er udført af billedhugger Bjørn Nørgaard. Nybyggeriet indrammer pladsen og vandkunsten. Om aftenen tændes et strålende violet bånd, der løber i byggeriets linjer, ligesom vandkunsten bades i lys. Bjørn Nørgaards megakunstværk er en meget omfattende iscenesættelse med en sand overflod af mytologiske referencer, alt sammen struktureret ved hjælp af historiske og geometriske grundformer.
Pladsen er lidt trang og Nørgaard spænder den til bristepunktet. Den er anlagt om en central og næsten symmetrisk akse, med et virvar af snørklede fortællinger, der skyder sig ind mellem hinanden. Selve vandkunsten består af et hovedbassin, hvorfra vandet løber i en lige akse ned gennem tre mindre damme. Vandet springer også lodret i rytmiske intervaller. Det 33 meter lange vandløb er udformet i et klassisk geometrisk formsprog, der afsluttes med en næsten 5 meter høj obelisk ved siden af en 1 meter høj runesten. Om obelisken snor der sig et uregelmæssigt granitbånd, og øverst sidder et stiliserede bronzehoved. Runestenen er groft hugget uden læsbare runer. Her risler vandet stille. I det store hovedbassin bruser vandet til gengæld, og det er også her selve hovedhistorien foregår.
Seks forvredne bronzefigurer (3 mænd og 3 kvinder) bærer en skinnende grøn Midgårdsorm med to hoveder, den spyr sin gift over stakkels Loke. Sigyn gør hvad hun kan for at fange giften i et fad – og afhængigt af vindforholdene lykkedes det hende at skåne sin mand fra at få den svidende gift i synet. Den store granitblok i hovedbassinet er selvfølgelig jorden, hvorom ormen vrider sig og den mytologiske scene udspilles.
Men midt i sceneriet befinder der sig en mand, der ikke umiddelbart har noget med nordisk mytologi at gøre. En hyrde, en pilgrim eller måske en præst, der står upåvirket midt i den drabelige historie og kigger lige frem for sig, som om intet var hændt. Åbenlyse kristne referencer blander sig allerede her med mytologien. Bag hovedbassinet står der i en rundbue tretten stiliserede kvinde- og mandsskikkelser, hvoraf den ene står forgyldt og lysende i midten – Jesus og de tolv apostle står bag det hele. Trods de kvindelige former, er de tretten figurer blevet så stiliserede, at de mest af alt ligner nogle af robotterne fra Star Wars. Således strækker referencerne sig ikke blot langt tilbage i historien, men altså også meget langt frem.
Kilde: Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum
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English
P. Nørkjær's Square was inaugurated 5 June 1989. The square is named after Peter Nørkjær, who made the
project possible financially. Peter Nørkjær was one of Hjørring's very first car dealers. He started as a
blacksmith with an apprenticeship at the blacksmith in Try at the beginning of the century and ended up as
a car dealer with a thriving business in Hjørring. Before his death, Nørkjær collected his fortune in a fund,
and his sons wanted to remember their father with the fund's donation. This large project has thus come
about entirely on private initiative and with private money, without active participation from the
municipality either in terms of ideas or financially.
The site is 1600 m², and the buildings were designed by the architectural firm Kjeld Bjerg, while the large
work of art was designed by sculptor Bjørn Nørgaard. The new building frames the square and the water
art. In the evening, a brilliant violet ribbon is lit that runs along the lines of the building, just as the water art is bathed in light. Bjørn Nørgaard's mega-artwork is a very comprehensive staging with a veritable
abundance of mythological references, all structured using historical and geometric basic forms.
The space is a bit tight and Nørgaard stretches it to the breaking point. It is laid out around a central and
almost symmetrical axis, with a jumble of convoluted narratives interspersed with each other. The water
art itself consists of a main basin, from which the water flows in a straight axis down through three smaller
ponds. The water also leaps vertically in rhythmic intervals. The 33-metre-long stream is designed in a
classic geometric idiom, ending with an almost 5-metre-high obelisk next to a 1-metre-high rune stone. An
irregular granite band winds around the obelisk, and at the top sits a stylized bronze head. The runestone is
roughly carved with no legible runes. Here the water trickles quietly. In the large main pool, however, the
water gushes, and this is also where the main story takes place.
Six twisted bronze figures (three men and three women) carry a shiny green, two-headed Midgard serpent,
spewing its venom over poor Loki. Sigyn does what she can to catch the poison in a dish - and depending on
the wind, she managed to spare her husband from getting the stinging poison in his eyes. The large granite
block in the main basin is of course the globe around which the worm twists and the mythological scene
takes place.
In the middle of the scenery is a man who has nothing to do with Norse mythology. A shepherd, a pilgrim or
perhaps a priest who stands unaffected in the middle of the murderous story and looks straight ahead as if
nothing had happened. Obvious Christian references mix here with mythology. Behind the main basin,
thirteen stylized male and female figures stand in an arch, one of which stands gilded and shining in the
middle – Jesus and the twelve apostles placed at the very back. Despite the female forms, the thirteen
figures have been so stylized that they resemble the robots from Star Wars. Thus, the references not only
extend far back in history, but also into the future.
Source: Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum
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Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.