PIET HEIN –

a Danish loner in the 20th century

THE ETERNAL TWINS Taking fun as simply fun and earnestness in earnest shows how thoroughly thou none of the two discernest.

Versatility – creativity - productivity - A Renaissance Man poet artist essayist mathematician inventor designer Impatiens – Busy Lizzie Jarl Borgen’s impression of Piet Hein Astrid Lindgren’s comment

Piet Hein 1905 – 1996

His mother, Estrid Hein, ophthalmologist His father, Hjalmar Hein, civil engineer

Piet Hein (1577-1629

- admiral and director of the Dutch West India Company

Many studies – a certain rootlessness:

• philosophy (University of Copenhagen)

• painting in Stockholm

•(Albert Engstrøm – his teacher)

• theoretical physics

•(Niels Bohr – his teacher)

Albert Engstrøm (1869-1940)

The tramp Kolingen

His enthusiasm for technique The dynamo was Piet Hein’s best friend “ (...) when somebody pressed one of the buttons, the engine woke up, made a sinking movement and thought for a while: what was it, oh yes! And then it started with a wonderfully spinning noise (...). When starting up and stopping, the engine emitted blue and green fireworks and smelled electric, and sitting in the pitch dark room with my bag against the wall, I saw the many sloping walls wonderfully lit around this dark yarn ball creature. You never forget that you have been friend with a dynamo as a child. Everything might change, but long time ago there is a creature you have shared your life with.”

Fascination of the helicopter 1947 - a small book The Helicopter

Saw the helicopter as the perfect means of transportation in future cities Divided the airspace in ‘roads’ – lots of space

The first helicopter, a Bell 47 B 3, in the air over Copenhagen Airport, photo from the ground.

Piet Hein and science Niels Bohr was a guest in Piet Hein’s childhood home – became his teacher at the university. Piet Hein was very active at the Niels Bohr Institute. Wrote a booklet on Niels Bohr’s atomic theory (1932) Contact with Albert Einstein – became friends later on.

Niels Bohr Piet Hein Verner Heisenberg

The Soma cube (1933)

Piet Hein around 1940

1930’es – a period of cultural radicalism ”a mindset based on respect for the individuel seen in an international perspective and with a social conscience. With an intellectual heresy revealing conventional thinking, hypocricy, phrases and clichés, with an openness that not only looks at the labels, but critically considers the reality behind them. Leading figure: Poul Henningsen

Young artists’ association with Piet Hein Tove Ditlevsen Halfdan Rasmussen Esther Nagel Morten Nielsen Sonja Hauberg

The relationship with Tove Ditlevsen From “Poison” – autobiography from1971 Piet Hein was the man of the world and he encourages Tove Ditlevsen to divorce Viggo F. Møller. Piet Hein is not portrayed with entirely positive words. He is a womanizer and very self- conscious “...he is a dangerous man who will make many women unhappy” - said by a former mistress.

From April 1940 Piet Hein wrote Grooks in “At tænke sig” in Politiken. Anti-nazi grooks with the meaning between the lines 1943 forced to leave Denmark Lives in Argentina till 1945

Great Bear

Piet Hein’s private life 4 marriages – 5 sons 1937 – Gunvor Holck 1942 – Gerda Ruth Conheim – Juan Alvaro og Andrés 1947 – Anne Cathrina Krøyer Pedersen – Lars 1955 – Gerd Ericsson († 1968) – Jotun og Hugo

Piet Hein – a citizen of the world Lived in Argentina and England Many travels – especially in North and South America and Europe International organizations: •1935 to 1955 - a board member of the Danish branch of The Open Door International •One World association •The League for Tolerance •The international P.E.N. Club Many international friends.

Now all super powers have super fortresses to claim their super interests, which of course is super peace. So now it is important that none of the super clever commits a super stupidity.

Notorius Jubelco: Word

A film about Denmark – for the Federation of Danish Industries and the Foreign Ministry

Piet Hein - a master of repartee • Sadruddin Aga Khan and the little mermaid • with the lady outside the antique shop • with Charles Chaplin

Many awards: Alexander Graham Bell Silver Bell (1968)

Emil Aarestrup Medal (1969) Honorary member of the Students’ Organization(1970) Industrial Design-prize (1971) Die gute Industrieform (1971) Honorary doctor at Yale University(1972) Huitième Salon Internationale du Lumiaire (1973) Honorary craftsman of the year (1975) Storm P. award(1978) Nobel Lecturer (1983) Medal Ingenio et Arti (1985) Annual Award from the Danish Design Association (1989) Tietgen Medal(1990) Honorary Doctor at University of Odense (1991)

Piet Hein’s versatile activities

The philosopher and the essayist To combine the technical world with the artistic. From natural science

• technology enthusiasm • inventiveness

From arts

• the right and responsibility of the individual • common sense • questioning existing norms

“The Stream and the Jar” – fables and essays

(1963) Citation - Leonardo da Vinci:

“He, who can walk to the stream, does not go to the jar” Piet Hein calls for:

A culture that is not another layer on an old culture. But has its own roots in nature.

” The Tree of Knowledge” An essay on • specializing opposed to creating coherence A fact for Piet Hein: the world is coherent About school and education: separation in subjects instead of interdisciplinary studies About the big inventions: to think differently and across the disciplines

“Tecnotism and Cultism”

Summarized: To bridge the gap between technique and culture. Cultism: “the attitude of people who are working with humanities as culture founded on earlier culture.” Tecnotism: “the attitude of people, working with science and technique. They have no sense of culture – but have roots deep in nature. Or ‘cultists ‘ are people, who know the goal, but not the methods of getting there. ‘Tecnotists’ are people who know the methods, but has lost track of the goal.

Generating ideas in science and art. ”First you have to work very hard, walking along paths in all directions in your field, but then everything has to be lowered into subconsciousness. And up from the subconscious emerge ( if you have the right spiral tunnel leading into eternity) complete, well- balanced overall views of unity.”

When science and art is combined

Con-tac tix

Soma cube

The relationship with Albert Einstein

Artist: Robert Berks 1978

Met Einstein at the Bohr Institute

“A Human Being”

Piet Hein allowed himself to be critical of the theory of relativity – in the 1930’s Visited Einstein’s home several times. Admires Einstein’s being in equilibrium, his openness and tolerance. Some Einstein quotations: “Schools, universities and the church form the human being instead of developing them.” “I like the young people who do not believe in old men....like me.” “It is absolutely necessary to defend the individual against society. To break the growing power over human beings performed by the authorities.”

Piet Hein – the poet Poems in various magazines during the 1930s

Poems in the Universe, (1941) The Tenth Muse (1941) 4 poems under the Southerns Cross (1945) Poems of this World (1948); You must plant a Tree (1960); Remember to Love (Love poems and grooks, 1962 ) The Lyre of the Heart (love poems and grooks, 1985);

Kumbel

ATS – at tænke sig - April 14th 1940

Spring melancholy The days are getting longer longer longer What are they longing for? The days getting longer longer longer longing for Saint Hans! Kumbel Kumbell

Politiken after the first poem by Kumbel Kumbell: “After the first grook by Kumbel Kumbell a few days ago, our telephones have been blocked from morning till evening. Especially our female readers demand that Kumbel Kumbell becomes a permanent writer in “At tænke sig”. He is so prudential, according to many people. He owns the modern rhythm, the finest quivering string which can lure the purest tones out of the grey light of the present days.”

Piet

Dutch for Peter – meaning ,stone’

Hein

Dutch for ‘hen’ – Old Danish for whetstone

Kumbl meaning ‘a stone with a inscription’ – a memorial stone His name is translated into

Kumbel Kumbell

short form: Kumbel Kumbel as rune roaster

The genre term: GRUK

GRin og sUK

Grooks

small aphoristic verses revealing in a minimum of words and with a minimum of lines some basic truth about the human condition. Characterized by: • irony • paradox • brevity • precise use of language • sophisticated rhythms and rhymes

For reading Piet Hein’s grooks , please go to the following links: www.leptonica.com www.archimedes-lab.org/grooks.html www.sophilos.net/GrooksofPietHein.htm Or simply google grooks Also www.piethein.dk – also in English Life Magazine 1966 http://books.google.dk/books?id=lFYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA64&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=true

About Piet Hein’s grooks ”Many grooks are expressing what everybody is just about to think, while others bring a new perspective on everyday issues and present experiences and observations of use to others and, more or less direct instructions in the art of living.

From Gyldendal’s history of literature (1974)

The friendship with Charles Chaplin A letter from Chaplin about the Kumbel poet and his own tramp The individual human being in a world of bigger forces.

Sources of inspiration

.

•Fritz Jürgensen •Halfdan Rasmussen •Storm P. •Christian Morgenstern •Erich Kästner •Ogden Nash

One can learn a lot from the old sayings, but one doesn’t

Storm P.’s flies

As a case can be seen from several sides, I will ask the audience to sit in a circle. Honesty is required if you sell elastic by the meter.

Notorius Jubelco Notorius Jubelco is a very clever man who splashes wise words about in Politiken’s column "At Tænke Sig". First time June 6, 1947.

According to Notorius Jubelco “One must not underestimate the total agreement among the super powers, which is that they after all share exactly the same opinion of each other.” • • • “Of course, you can survive without rowan jelly, but what a life!”

The Designer

Sergels Torg, Stockholm

A superellipse, also known as a Lamé curve after Gabriel Lamé is

a geometric figure defined in the Cartesian coordinate system as

the set of all points (x, y) with

where n, a and b are positive numbers.

Science and design combined

Life Magazine 1966

Superegg - anti-stress device

The super egg - Skjern

Present to Queen Margrethe from Jørgen Roed

Helix Helios

Helix Helios - The Sun dial

The maze at Egeskov

“The Cube ” in Augustenborg

The lyre of space (1999)

The Kumbel park in Farum

The globe of Denmark

Piet Hein on Norwegian’s plane – a series with Nordic heroes