Zero at Reinja Beatrix International Airport. Oranjestaad Aruba. by craniv boyd.

Zero at Reinja Beatrix International Airport. Oranjestaad Aruba. by craniv boyd.

Inside a posh tropical international airport, on the Island of Aruba on the lesser Antilles are small interventions, that contribute to the experience of the Airport by artists from Aruba. Besides purchasing an I <3 Aruba, shirt or some of the worlds finest Aloe before your direct flight to Houston, Caracas or Amsterdam, you might consider, as I did for some moments, just what is it about the design of the airport, that makes Rejna Beatrix international, so smooth. 

One thing:  the light fixtures. 

 

These are sculpted by, Zero, an Aruban artist and the ensconcements are evocative of the natural forms, and the beauty which makes Aruba, dushi terra (Papiamento for sweet earth.) These light fixtures are symmetrical bronze forms, with flat teardrop shaped joints,(narrow end pointing down). The joints are units of the larger limbs that bow out and up wards. The digits and the teardrop like joints are set irregularly thus having the outward initial appearance of being grown, rather than made by an artist.  These forms that house lights, are set on many, of the columns of the shopping and dining concourse, at the terminal. In passing what seems simplistic is very complex, provoking academic questions of are the sculptures that Zero has made for the airport culled form cactus or coral? One could turn to the context of previous and larger works by the same artist, Zero. He is   represented by a larger artwork, in brushed aluminum, in another prominent public-space in the Marriott  near  Eagle Beach. It also ha the form evocative of coral, it gives primacy to the local ecology, and is a delineated homage to such fragile tropical aquatic life. 

Beyond that there is presence and repetition, of the metallic forms, Aruba specific, locally made, yet what cumulative, additive ambient affect do these understated light forms have on the passengers in transit? A good one I would hope, for the inclusion of art works in public spaces in civil societies is seldom a bad thing, even if the art may be hideous, or precipitate public outcry. In the prominent public space of the airport, art before air time is fun, and in the case of Zero, it is a graceful addendum to the airport. by craniv boyd.