‘Otro’ is South Korean artist Koo Jeong-A’s skateable sculpture at the International Center of Art and Landscape at Vassivière Island, in the Limousin National Park, France, which is nearing completion.
“OTRO is a daring skateable artwork, composed of different bowls, a cradle and three tunnels. Koo Jeong-A invites novices and experts to share the physical and sensorial experience of her work by “skating the landscape”.
above: Otro final geometry / photo www.escaut.org
Mike Van der Ouderaa, from Belgian skatepark co. Concrete Flow Skateparks who’s been working on the project, has documented the build of this inspirational project in a brief but great two piece article for Confusion Magazine – which is well worth checking for more images of the bowl (with great captions) and construction process, but also for Mike’s positive and upbeat description of his time spent on the often challenging build project, which also included jamming with punk drummers while staying on an artists commune, an altercation with a bird while bombing a hill and a trip home to see Shellac play.
above: details of Otro – photo by Mike Van der Ouderaa / www.confuzine.com
“The concept of OTRO, its ovoid shape, the use of green phosphorescent concrete, its progressive discovery, and its integration in the island meadow make this artwork become an infinite land of investigation, that reflects all details like the light, its link with the site, the atmospheres, the dream and the fantastical. OTRO is an artwork made of bumps – the cradle – and hollows – bowls and tunnels. This work of Koo Jeong-A refers to both definitions of sculpture and representation: hollows and bumps, shadows and lights, soft or accentuated reliefs.
It is an art work to live, to experiment, not only from a sporting point of view but also from a sensorial, sensitive and artistic point of view. It establishes the link between the urban, practicable, sporting and playful aspect of the artwork as a skate park and the artwork from an artistic point of view as part of Koo Jeong-A’s world.”
above: preliminary sketch of Koo Jeong-A / photo www.escaut.org
OTRO has been constructed collectively by L’Escaut Architects (Brussels) in collaboration with Brusk (Brussels) and the expert skatepark building knowledge of Doctor Skateparks (who has a great blog with weekly updates from the project as well as Flickr streams and video on his website) and Concrete Flow Skateparks, whose Mike Van der Ouderaa wrote the article for Confusion Magazine – Part 1 / Part 2 – that i previously mentioned (and nicked the photos from)
The International Center of Art and Landscape, and Vassivière Island, look like an amazing setting for this great project, and the bowl / sculpture seems wonderfully at place in its island meadow setting. Set in the Limousin National Park in central France it’s certainly high on our list of places to visit soon.
above: Mike Van der Ouderaa “cruising the Cradle of Hell” – photo www.confuzine.com
above: Pierre ‘Dr. Skatepark’ grinding what he just finished building – photo www.confuzine.com