Landscape sculpture created 1983. »Installation of Four Seasons« called »Solstice«. A work of Marko Pogačnik, UNESCO Artist for Peace.
Marko Pogačnik about the sculpture:
According to recycling principle the sculpture was originally made of 100 outworn railway slides. Supported by the Bio-Technical Faculty in the year 2024 the sculpture was to large extent renewed using biologically impregnated oak beams. The tree in the middle grew by itself as a gift of Gaia the Earth Goddess.
The Installation invites you to enter and to walk through the year’s cycle with the emphasis on the summer and winter solstices.
The vertical beams carry copper belts with signs that tell the story how life appeared upon Earth. It begins with geometrical patterns as symbols of atomic powers. They are followed by the Four elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Air) as creators of vital currents. As next plants appear, being the first embodiment of life. They are followed by insects and other species as representatives of animal world. The next one is you, while walking through the cycle of the year.
History of Solstice Sculpture
In the year 1983 Janez Zupanc, one of the collaborators of the Biotechnical Faculty, had the idea to create a sculpture on the grounds of the Faculty dedicated to the cycle of the year. The idea was to complement the rational approach to the cycles of nature with an artistic vision. Taja Brejc, the former director of the gallery Equrna from Ljubljana was enthusiastic about this idea and Marko Pogačnik, academic sculptor and collaborator of Equrna also. The Faculty accepted the idea. The Gallery got from the town council founding to cover the costs. Former Yougoslav Railways donated 100 outworn railway slides needed by the artist to build the sculpture. Artist’s concept was to build a kind of a bridge upon which students and visitors can walk to get attuned to the rhythms of Earth and nature. Walking they meet vertical posts with symbols that make aware that besides the cyclical changes in nature caused by the year’s cycle, we have to deal with the evolutionary cycles of life on the planet Earth as well as with the changes within each one of us.
After four decades of its existence and use the sculpture decayed as much that a renovation was needed. It was done in the year 2024 with author’s collaboration. Some of the railway slides were good enough to remain, the majority needed to be exchanged with biologically prepared oak beams.
About the artist
Marko Pogačnik was born in Kranj 1944, lives with his family in Šempas, Slovenia. He is co-founder of OHO movement (1965-71) and the rural and artistic community “Šempas Family” (1971-79). He works since then in the field of holistic ecology (geomancy), and landscape healing. He has developed the language of cosmograms, a method of Earth healing called “lithopuncture”, and a set of Gaia Touch body exercises. His books include: Nature Spirits & Elemental Beings, Turned Upside Down, Sacred Geography, Gaia’s Quantum Leap, The Universe of the Human Body, Dancing with the Earth Changes, Creating Gaia Culture.