''Needle, Thread and Knot'' (Italian: ''Ago, Filo e Nodo'') is a

public artwork Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

in two parts by

Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...

and

Coosje van Bruggen Coosje van Bruggen (June 6, 1942 – January 10, 2009) was a Dutch-born American sculptor, art historian, and critic.Kino, Carol. January 13, 2009 ''The New York Times''. She collaborated extensively with her husband, Claes Oldenburg. Biograph ...

Piazzale Cadorna Piazzale Cadorna (''Cadorna Square'') is sited in the centre of Milan, near Milan Cadorna railway station, Cadorna Railway Station. The square are dedicated to Italian Field Marshal Luigi Cadorna, famous for being chief of staff of the Italian ...

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. Commissioned by the City of Milan as part of the renovations of the

Milan Cadorna railway station Milano Cadorna is a commuter railway station located near the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Italy. History The original station, built in wood in the style of a chalet, was opened in 1879. This was enlarged in 1920, but the station was destroyed ...

, and unveiled in February 2000, the sculpture is a fountain made of

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

and reinforced plastic, painted with polyester gelcoat and

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

enamel. The "knot" is placed in the middle of a fountain on the middle of the square while the

sewing needle A sewing needle, used for hand-sewing, is a long slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole (or ''eye'') to hold the sewing thread. The earliest needles were made of bone or wood; modern needles are manufactured from high carbon steel ...

is on the footpath in front of the train station. According to the artists the needle pulling thread through fabric is a metaphor for a train going through a tunnel. The thread wrapped around a needle also "paraphrased" the city emblem of a snake coiled around a sword. According to the City of Milan, it is also meant as a tribute to Milan's influence in the

fashion industry Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

. The three thread colours (red, green, yellow) selected by the artists are meant to reflect the three lines of the

Milan Metro The Milan Metro () is the rapid transit system serving Milan, Italy, operated by Azienda Trasporti Milanesi. The network consists of five lines with a total network length of , and a total of List of Milan Metro stations, 125 stations (+2 in con ...

at the time.Angela Maderna and Michele Robecchi, ''Arte Pubblica , Milano'', Postmedia Books, Milan, pp. 46-47

References

External links

Ago, Filo e Nodo (Needle, Thread, and Knot)
at Oldenburgvanbruggen.com

at ''TRAMA E ORDITO - il blog della moda'' (''Warp and Weft - a fashion blog'')
Arredo urbano. Nuova vita per i monumenti e le fontane di Milano
("Street furniture. New Life for the monuments and fountains of Milan") at comune.milano.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Needle, Thread and Knot Buildings and structures in Milan Sculptures by Claes Oldenburg Sculptures by Coosje van Bruggen Monuments and memorials in Milan Outdoor sculptures in Milan

See also

References

External links