Inside the Space

Introduction to Art (PennStateUniversity via Coursera)
The purpose of this assignment is to select a meaningful outdoor site and create a site-specific environmental installation closely considering use of space and material.

Appeltjes van Oranje / Apples of Orange

‘Appeltjes van Oranje’ / ‘Apples of Orange’ is a Dutch expression.

The ‘Apples of Orange’ is a prize awarded annually to three exceptional, innovative and successful projects in the field of social welfare and social cohesion,  by the Orange Fund in The Netherlands. The prize includes a bronze statue designed and created by Princess Beatrix (former queen of The Netherlands). The statue is not the model of an apple, but an orange, formerly called ‘orange appel’ because of the color.

In Dutch: orange (the fruit) = sinaasappel and apple = appel.

Form and location: three dimensional piece of art in a border church monument in the forest.

Concept: This site specific environmental installation is a symbolic representation of the past and the present. 

The location 
I chose to prepare my artwork in an almost 400 year old border church monument.

When the Catholic faith was banned entirely in 1649 in The Netherlands, Catholics often had to resort to clandestine churches. This is one of the hidden churches founded that year. It is located in a forest .The path to the church is the current county boundary, but it used to be the border with the German Empire. Therefore it was called a border church. Catholic residents could profess their faith in this border church. This  church was used until 1682. In 1981, 300 years later, it has gained the status of a monument.

I often walk in this forest with my dog and stop at this monument to eat some fruit. 

The oranges
For this installation I used oranges. The oranges have a symbolic meaning.The Dutch Royal House is

the House of Orange-Nassau. The history of this House is closely linked to that of The Netherlands since the fifteenth century. From that time the Oranges deliver as princes, kings and queens an important contribution to the governance of our country.The Dutch royal family gets its name from the French town Orange (once a center of trade from the fruit orange). In many languages, the same word is used for 'orange' (the color) and 'orange' (the fruit).

The oranges symbolize the Dutch royal family. Orange is the color for all national sports teams in The Netherlands and synecdoche mostly for the Netherlands.But also, the fruit of the orange symbolizes the knowledge of good and evil. Bright emotions and liberation of trauma. Which refers to the war, religion and faith. Orange is also a symbol of relaxation. And peeling it a silent

protest against the breakneck pace of modern life.Consumers find it difficult to peel and eat the fruit. Eating an orange is time consuming. You can’t eat an orange while multitasking, it requires full concentration and the use of both hands.

The color orange has a very high visibility. In this installation it is used to catch attention and highlight the most important element of the design, the V-shape.

The ‘V’ is the first letter of the Dutch words for peace (vrede) and freedom (vrijheid). It refers to the time this border church is founded, at the end of the war. It also refers to freedom of religion.

The color orange stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Put some orange in your life when you want to increase creativity. This refers to me, enrolling and participating in this Introduction to Art class. I want to increase my creativity and I would like to gain new ideas.

Curiosity is a driving characteristic of orange, and with it comes exploration of new things and relief from things becoming too serious.

The surrounding space

This installation is made against a background of green. Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. But also balance and a sense of order are found in the color green.

Change and transformation is necessary for growth.

When you want a new state of balance, feel a need for change or growth or when you need freedom to pursue new ideas you have to put some green in your life.

Interaction 

In the 3th photograph you can see the interaction between the installation and the audience. 

The border church monument is a public space. There are walking trails and bike paths to this monument. People come, sit down for a moment and eat or drink something. In this case you can see an orange that is peeled. The peeled orange on the altar refers also to enlightenment.