Knut Henrik Henriksen

STANDARDISED IRRATIONALITY – TO LUDWIG ERNST HANS BURMESTER

2018
polished stainless steel
12 3/8 x 3 1/2 x 1/8; 5 1/4 x 2 3/4 x 1/8; 6 1/8 x 3 1/8 x 1/8 inches
edition 1 + 1 AP + 1 exhibition copy

Knut Henrik Henriksen’s work is about reaction: his reaction to an architectural anomaly, a geometric theory, a detail in a famous figure’s biography. For this piece, the artist recreates three templates known as French curves (or as they are sometimes called in Europe, the Burmester curve), which is a tool used by architects and draftsman to trace a smooth line for arches. Hernriksen’s artwork and the tools are named for 19th century German geometry mathematician Ludwig Ernst Hans Burmester, who studied curves and produced early versions of this tool using a variety of equations. Based in Berlin, Henriksen has worked for over 20 years focusing on “architectural doubts” and “architectural frustrations” in his site-specific pieces located across Europe.