Counterpoint Bjørvika
Visions and reality – from the competition description
An art project that will relate to, and be part of, an area that will be inaccessible to the public for a long time to come, is a challenge.
– Should one work with an expression that is immediately striking and so powerful that it drowns today’s turbulent situation, or should one think ahead and work with a concept that grows into its own, when the area is opened to the public?
– Should you have a flashy “advertising sign”, an icon for something happening in the area, or a project that is growing with the development of the area?
I prefer to the last, although it may take several years before the last bit is in place.
Not much is necessary; – a small detail at the right place, before you start to wonder “what’s that?”
When the submersible tunnel is completed, hopefully sometime in 2010, the Loalmenningen will be ready for the public. It is important that the area opens up as a park, while waiting for the release of other plots and entries of expected buildings. The public should be able to start using the park as soon as possible, begin to gain ownership of it, and in this way begin to define new movement patterns, and close contact with the sea. The public’s desire to use this new area is the most important fundament for further development.
Counterpoint Bjørvika is based on the twin tower in Loalmenningen. The visible art project is placed between these towers, but with it’s reflecting material it interacts with the surroundings – like independent voices interacting with each other.
The project consists of 2 main approaches; – one comes into place now, like a teaser, a “Soria Moria” one experiences from a distance, and wonders what is. I refer to this as PHASE 1.
The second step comes in place when the park is opened to the public, a project closer to the audience at the ground. This is PHASE 2.
In addition, it is natural to look at the landscaping design around the towers in the context of the development of the art project which is closer to the audience.It is important that the area around the shelf is activated, so that the space between the towers does not become a non official urinal, – like such areas often are.
The towers can be regarded as coarse – in the positive sense, in their extreme height in relation to the human dimension. Adding something that makes you want to go closer, something to wonder about, which makes it tickle your curiosity, the towers can become a positive element of the park, rather than a shameful object that you avoid due to of the smell.
PHASE 1
Specifically, I use the space between the towers. This is where the excitement lies, and the part of the towers that gives the greatest variation in perspective and experiences, both in immediate and in a distant effect.Two circular, slightly convex objects; – with a mirror surface during the day, and glowing when it is dark, mounted facing each other about 26 meters up. They become a force point in the space, which communicates with each other and with the surroundings. A kaleidoscopic view of the sky.
PHASE 2
The second part of the art projects uses the bottom part of the shelf. Here the audience can walk in between the towers, pass them, or gaze further down in a water mirror. The towers, like technical objects in the middle of a park, are a suitable place for a sound sculpture. The lower part of the space between the towers is a sound space, a space for the senses which is filled with processed sounds from the surroundings. There is nothing else here, here you can be surprised and let your mind travel into different, unexpected and meditative rooms.Sound installations and sound sculptures can be demanding in rooms where people travel or work every day – this place does not disturb anyone. Let us make it a to a point in the park you want to experience!
