WARNING SIGNS 2007

ART IN THE TUNNEL

Andrè Gali
Extract from an article in the Oslo Open catalogue 2007.

The subway and the central station are central locations in Oslo, and therefore a natural choice for an art event that focuses on using the city. The artwork offers elements of surprise and is thought provoking for the commuters. Meeting unexpected distractions in their daily routine – green oases in the grey tunnels, warnings of joy. In cooperation with Kunst på Arbeidsplassen and Oslo Sporveier, Oslo Open presents seven installations around the city.

Warning – hope and art in the streets!

At the central station, one could find Jannik Abel’s “Warning Signs” that warn the commuters of hope and art in the streets that they might be unaware of.

Abel plays with the language of advertising and warning signs. These two forms of expression share a common denominator, though they have a different language. They both try to control people in the public arena. Abel’s poster project plays with both of these forms of communication, but without the element of control. Abel’s warning signs are about the existence of hope and art that an innocent person walking by is on the verge of missing.

The posters do not give any real promises or tell of any actual danger. “There might be hope in the streets” does not give a promise of hope; it only indicates that it is possible to see things one had not expected to find. “The text in “warning signs” is a start, it is a door opener to the art world, to positive thinking, to humor, and to art in the public arena”, Abel says. It might also be an amusing detail that the posters also refer to themselves when they speak of “art in your future you are unaware of”.

INCLUSIVE ART LIFE IN CENTRAL OSLO

Janicke Iversen
Billedkunst 4/2007
(Extract from article)

With over 400 artists registered and open studios all over town, almost half of Oslo’s 900 established artists participated in this year’s Oslo Open. The artists introduced the audience to the somewhat isolated world of art with great success. However, criticism is extended to the established and most acknowledged artists as they chose not to participate.

With the third annual Oslo Open the conclusion is clear;
The 10 days long art marathon impressed its’ audience with a solid program that had something for everyone. Youngstorget filled with carpet, an extensive video program at Cinemateket, lectures on art in the media, concerts at Sound of Mu, art auctions at Blå, performance art at Tullinløkka and in Kongensgate, installations at subway stations and hundreds of open studios all over the city, were only a few things one could experience during Oslo Open.
From the 3rd till the 13th of May, this gigantic event proved that Oslo is full of extraordinary, but also hidden, artistic activity. That is why Oslo Open is so important. The open studios create an informal arena where established and aspiring artists can meet out of a common curiosity. An artistic sphere with lowered standards and open doors is a good thing, as well as a useful thing in the debate about what art is, and what is should be.

Art in action

This year, the cooperation with Oslo Sporveier also made art visible for commuters, by displaying art in the city’s subway stations. Hjørdis Kurås asked the following question: “What is your religion?” By seemingly forgetting a gym bag that played soccer songs supporting the local club, Vålerenga, at Nationalgalleriet station, she got the subway audience’s attention. At Stortinget station, one almost tripped over Maren Juell Kristensen’s installation, “Cleaning in progress”, a puddle made of concrete, surrounded by warning signs. These puts focus on the human need to be seen.

An almost invisible encounter with art was to be found at the closed down Valkyrien station. At this location, Kaja Wright Polmar and Marianne Skjeldal had created a temporary utopian jungle that could only be seen by the subway passengers as the train speed past. This concept functioned well as an idea, but was too fleeting and abstract as an actual art installation.

A project that got much attention, was the one at the central station, made by Jannik Abel and Åshild Bøthun. On the walls that normally are covered with advertising, there was room made for Abel’s “Warning Signs” that announced that “There might be art in the streets that you are unaware of”. This was an efficient comment about Oslo Open’s goal to bring art out to the people. Whereas Abel’s project was of a poetic character, Bøthun’s series of photographs showing artists making a living from other types of professions was a political statement.
These projects were perhaps the most important and relevant artistic statements in the public arena during Oslo Open.