I Will Survive

‘I Will Survive’ is a freestanding, golden-coloured sculpture by Martijn Sandberg, in Hardenberg, the Netherlands. It is located at the Mulopad, between the building LOC and the old cemetery Nijenstede adjacent to it.

A contemporary reading of the Latin proverb ‘Ars longa, vita brevis’ – life is short, art long.

-“What’s that for?”
-“It looks like a fence, but it isn’t a fence.”
-“But what is it then?”
-“If it has no use as a fence or doesn’t serve anything, then it must be art.”
-“But what’s written there?”
-“Well, ‘I Will Survive’.”
-“But who says that?”
-“I see it and I did just say it myself, but it is often said that art speaks for itself.”
-“Well, I’m damned, now I get it. So if it is art, then art says ‘I Will Survive’?”
-“That is what’s there. And in any case, it was already there yesterday and probably will be tomorrow as well.”

Photos and imaginary conversation, site-specific sculpture ‘I Will Survive’, Mulopad, Kerkhof Nijenstede, Hardenberg.

Click here to see a full description in English, as PDF.
Click here to see a full description in Dutch, as PDF.

Title: ‘I Will Survive’
Artist: Martijn Sandberg
Location: Mulopad, LOC, Kerkhof Nijenstede, Hardenberg/ NL
Measurements: (lxhxw) 25m x 3m x 02.m
Material: gold metallic coated steel
Concept and figuration: 2006
Realisation and completion: 2008
Commissioned by: Municipality Hardenberg/ NL
Advice and supervision: Kunst & Cultuur Foundation, Overijssel/ NL

Photos by: Martijn Sandberg (1), Axis