The lyre of space
Title and year
The lyre of space, 1999
Material
Steel
Artist
Piet Hein, 1905-1996
Location
Exit 76 on motorway E45
Description
A dream long held by the Danish designer and humourist Piet Hein came true, albeit posthumously, after more than 100 sponsors enabled the enlargement, by a factor of 20, of a mobile he called The lyre of space – bringing it to life anew in sculptural form. It is an impressive sight for viewers driving towards Hein’s poetic version of the classical stringed lyre, then proceeding around the sculpture in the traffic circle in which it stands.
The lyre sculpture is at once delicate and powerful, calm and dynamic and geometrical. The centrifugal force in its rounded shape speaks to the movement of the vehicles driving around it. But when for a moment the traffic dies down, an attentive observer may be fortunate enough to hear the wind strumming the strings of the great lyre.
