Sphere Within A Sphere (Italian Sfera con sfera) is a
strange looking sculpture made out of polished bronze and depicts a large
damaged sphere
fitted inside another larger sphere with torn surface. Created by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro it was first installed in the courtyard of Vatican Museum in
1990. Thereafter replicas of the sculpture have been installed in several
locations
across the World. Currently it can be seen at following locations.
- Vatican Museums, Vatican City
- Freedom Square (Piazzale della Libertà ), Pesaro, Italy
- Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- UN Headquarters, New York, USA
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
- Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, USA No Image
- Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, USA No Image
- de Young Museum, San Francisco, USA No Image
- University of California, Berkeley, USA
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran
- Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan
No one knows for sure what the sculptor tried to depict in
this art work. Checking on the Net, I came across many interpretations, some of
which are being quoted below;
-
"the fractured outer surface of the sphere reveals a complex inner sphere that represents the harsh difficulties of the modern world at the end of the second millennium." - New York Times Daily Photo
-
"a sphere growing inside another sphere, as if a world torn asunder by the horrors of war and suffering could still give birth to another world: a more prosperous and just world, within an international frame of peace and progress for generations to come. What better image for illustrating the primary role the United Nations are called upon to play: a global quest to build a new world wherein all peoples can co-exist peacefully and develop in freedom." - From a speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy Mr Lamberto Dini while dedicating the sphere at the UN Headquarters (Source: New York Times Daily Photo)
-
"The inner ball represents the Earth and outer ball represents Christianity. [citation needed]" - Wikipedia
-
"our world aging, changing and breaking wide open with a new and emerging one with all of it’s glorious imperfections demanding to be heard" - A blogger.
I am giving below images from several locations and leave it
to my readers to make their own interpretation of the art work.
Vatican Museums, Vatican City
Image from Flickr is by Oggie Dog
Freedom Square (Piazzale della Libertà ), Pesaro,
Italy
Image Source: Google Street View
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Image from Flickr is by Brian Smithson (Old Geordie)
UN Headquarters, New York, USA
Image from Flickr is by chrisbastian44
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
Image from Flickr is by mdmarkus66
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Image from Flickr is by sullencookie
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran
Image from Panoramio is by hajar maghbooli
Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan
Image from Flickr is by gullevek
View locations Google Earth / Google Maps (some of the locations are approximate)
Main source of Info: New York Times Daily Photo / Wikipedia
This posting states that replicas of the sculpture have been installed in several locations across the World. However, all spheres look different to me. Is it possible that each one is a unique sculpture?
ReplyDeleteThe four spheres shown in Wikipedia page look identical. The viewing angle and reflection on the polish surface will make these look different.
ReplyDelete