350,000 euro obelisk to shine on Ghent Korenmarkt!

One of the sides of the steel obelisk will reflect its surroundings or as the artist Ann Veronica Janssen puts it imbue surroundings and sky in the sculpture.

The obelisk called HEM 600, after the support beam used in many modern buildings, honours the history of Ghent architecture.

With one polished side HEM 600 conjures up the concept of intangibility. Ghent culture city cabinet member Annelies Storms: "The beam's shadow and the reflection from the mirrored side move around the work at their own rhythm. It's as if they will never catch each other up and are playing cat and mouse, but this is not correct. Once a year on 1 May at 4PM the shadow and the reflection will converge.

Artist Ann Veronica Janssens denies that the date is a gift to the city's governing socialist party: "May Day is a holiday for all and a day with a good chance of fine weather."

The new obelisk will join a work by Ayse Erkmen on the Korenmarkt. The S.M.A.K. Museum has plans for an exhibition that sheds light on both works of art that cost 350,000 euros a piece.