On a line pointing straight towards the territory of the Baruca Indians in Costa Rica, the Central American strip of land between Nicaragua and Panama, Lance Belanger's five cement balls lie in the TICKON park.
Five white balls that let the eye continue its journey and let the brain travel to the most distant destinations.
Actually, cement is not a land art material, but the spheres refer to the more than 3,000-year-old mysterious pre-Columbian granite spheres that have been found in Palma Norte and Costa Rica.
For Belanger, the work in TICKON and his other cement spheres are located elsewhere in the world – from Finland to Cuba, from New York to Ottawa – an ironic comment on the interpretations that archeology and Christianity have put over the original granite spheres – as if the Indians themselves has no spiritual life, but instead must always be read through the lens of another culture.
His goal is to also remind the Danish people and our ancestors that the Vikings and the indigenous people of America also had contact with each other in the past. Both physically and spiritually.
Lance Belanger, born 1956 in Canada. With his Native American background and interest in his own people, in addition to being an artist himself, he is also educated in Native American art from the University of Regina, Saskatchewan.
Artist: Lance Belanger
Year: 1994
Lance Belanger, born 1956 in Canada. With his Native American background and interest in his own people, in addition to being an artist himself, he is also educated in Native American art from the University of Regina, Saskatchewan.