He is almost ready, the seven meter high bust of Gerard Philips. Artist Andreas Hetfeld has been working on the gigantic statue with a number of people since last summer. The Great Friendly Gerard is a gift from Philips to the city of Eindhoven on the occasion of the company’s 130th anniversary.
Sparks fly around your ears when you enter the huge hall of the Shipyard Millingen shipyard. Here the first, but also gigantic statue by Gerard Philips is being welded and ground very hard.
“Frits and Anton both already have a statue in Eindhoven, there is only a plaque of Gerard in the Philips museum. This statue will be a tribute to Gerard, the founder of Philips, the maker of the light bulb,” says Andreas Hetfeld while he pauses. pauses with the welding work.
“Without him there would have been no Philips.”
The artwork with an opening in the shape of a light bulb through which visitors will soon be able to walk, will be seven meters high and eight meters wide. It is made up of 500 layers of steel and has 4659 separate parts.
“Gerard had no children, he was an incredible craftsman with technical know-how, but also a man of integrity who was very modest. Without him there would have been no Philips”, says Andreas.
“Because it’s such a complicated image, the cutting machine for the steel kept jamming.”
He continues: “Making the sculpture is painstaking work, luckily I have a whole team that I work with. Just like Gerard Philips, we also had to invent and discover things with this sculpture. Because it is such a complicated sculpture, for example, the cutting machine for the steel kept getting stuck. Then we had to come up with new solutions to get it done.”
“The image also refers to Philips products, such as the layers that you see with a CT scan or 3D prints. It is a very technical but also traditional image. It is made of Corten steel and that rusts. Now the head is still shiny , but with rust it becomes more inward and warmer. That was done deliberately, because Gerard Philips was a modest man.”
The sculpture by Gerard Philips is commissioned by Andreas and will be unveiled on May 15 in the Gloeilampen park at Strijp-T in Eindhoven.
Before then, the sculpture will be shipped by ship to Zaltbommel, Gerard’s birthplace, on Saturday, April 29, where the urn with his ashes is also located. On May 1, it will then continue on transport to Eindhoven. The intention is that the statue will later be placed in Victoria Park, behind the White Lady, that park is not yet ready.
