Olivier Genoud – Constellations (1997)

Leaving the train station of Sierre in a northerly direction brings one diagonally opposite the post office branch designed by the architect Eric Papon. A stone sculpture in front of the entrance offers a place to sit while dreaming of the starry sky on a clear summer night – a theme taken up by the sculpture Constellations, realized in 1997 by Oliver Genoud (1962, Geneva). The shiny black granite disc has a diameter of 300 centimetres. When seen from the side, it looks like a giant hockey puck that could easily be shot through one of the openings in the building’s facade. The granite is polished smooth, creating an almost mirror-like surface. Embedded in the granite are 63 steel discs ranging from 4 to 10 centimetres in size. Reflecting the light, they evoke stars in the night sky. The constellation of metal discs corresponds to the position of the stars during the June solstice. This is also a nod to the symbol of the town of Sierre: the sun. The motifs of the starry sky and the mirror image feature frequently in Genoud’s works from that period. The view into infinite space juxtaposes with the viewer’s self-reflection created by the mirror effect.

Other recurring themes in Genoud’s oeuvre are furniture and its representation in merchandise catalogues and boxes, which he interprets as sculptures. Both references also appear in the work Constellations. The work is an example of the popularity of “useful art” in art-in-architecture projects: in addition to serving as urban furniture, it functions as a post office landmark.

The central location of the post office near the train station and its high visibility were decisive for the realization of this “artistic embellishment”, as art-in-architecture projects were called in the 1990s. The jury selected the work from two proposals prepared by invitation. (JI)