The colored bars of the glass roof of Guillemins station, an ephemeral work of art installed by a French artist in 2022, will be removed in the coming days, making way for a new transformation. Reactions are divided among residents and station users.
The colors covered the station’s ceiling and commuters felt like they were literally falling from the sky. But these colors, installed on the large glass roof, will gradually disappear. A choice, which does not please everyone: “Oh yes, I’m surprised. I always liked to see him“, says a commuter. “I knew it was planned for a year, I think. Well, it was a bit stupid, it added color“, adds another. “I loved it immensely. I’m in art history and archaeology, so I love this type of art“, said a student.
The station, without these colors, is more beautiful.
Very quickly, this ephemeral work of art made the rounds on social networks. These colors attracted the attention of many travelers. And the result still rarely leaves them indifferent today. Unlike the first passers-by, some didn’t like the result at all: “I don’t think it’s pretty, I don’t think the colors are harmonious. It adds absolutely nothing and therefore it is a very good thing that we remove them“, confided a commuter. “I really liked the simple and classic station. We have a beautiful station and I thought it was a bit special” or, “I never really understood why they put that in there. It’s true that the station without these colors is really more beautiful“.
An ephemeral work
Inaugurated in October 2022 by the French artist Daniel Buren (pillar of conceptual art, editor’s note), the work will ultimately have remained much longer than expected. The colored films will be collected by different artists to be transformed into a new work of art. “It is an ephemeral work in essence. It was initially planned that it would be installed for a year. It was extended. We obviously completely accepted it. So this work remained for more than a year and eight months. It is an ephemeral work in essence which, at a given moment, must be removed“, explains Vincent Bayer, spokesperson for SNCB.
To carry out this work, 600,000 euros were necessary. It was financed 10% by the public authorities. The rest by private donors from Liège.
Liège-Guillemins station work of art
