Frozen in time. That’s how Godot appears. This imposing bronze figure stands on Amagerbrogade. It is over three meters tall. Godot’s presence is striking from afar. Up close its detail is astonishing.
Godot’s title refers to Samuel Beckett’s absurd play Waiting for Godot. Beckett was reportedly inspired by Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon. Two figures stand in a dark landscape gazing at the evening sky. There’s no apparent reason or progress. This existential core is what Lemmerz’s statue embodies. Godot is a figure full of inner movement. Even though the statue stands still. It might be waiting. It looks unwavering.
Godot is both figurative and abstract. The bronze is a classic sculptural material. Lemmerz however didn’t work with it classically. He used 3D scanning and 3D printing. He didn’t try to hide the machine’s involvement. He says he “tricked the computer into being creative”. The surface is rough and uneven. It shows the computer’s struggle to form a figure from Lemmerz’s distorted input. You can see the 3D printer’s layered process. This gives Godot a dynamic surface. The statue’s form references Futurism’s technologically-driven style.
Christian Lemmerz a German-born artist created Godot. He’s based in Copenhagen and Pietrasanta Italy. Lemmerz’s work explores existential themes like time and transience. He uses a unique style internationally recognized in sculpture. His forms draw from the Renaissance and Classicism. Yet he combines them with contemporary fragmentary expressions. He works in drawing sculpture film installation and performance. In 2010 he received a lifelong artist grant. He also received the New Carlsberg Foundation’s Artist Grant in 2015.
So here we stand before Godot. A testament to artistic innovation and existential contemplation. It’s a striking piece of public art. It invites reflection on the human condition. A truly unique addition to Copenhagen’s artistic landscape.