Oslo | 8 degrees | sunny
after a
long long
sleep
in a
soft warm bed
drink tea
eat breakfast
look at map
decide to walk
instead of
using metro
can walk through
well known park
on the way to
villa stenersen
check and recharge
batteries
fill pockets
with snacks
and head
out of town
past grand buildings
embassies + hotels
down steep steps
along empty streets
past a huge ice rink
past frogner stadium
and outdoor baths
with light blue
curly chutes
and into the
vigeland sculpture park
an installation
created by
gustav vigeland
bronze and granite
figures
men, women, children
standing, jumping
hugging, holding
dancing,
sitting + staring
over 200 figures
lining the bridge
arranged in groups
enacting
the human condition
the circle of life
from death comes life
a lifetimes work
admidst
a romantic landscape
at the centre
a monolith
14m tall
121 writhing figures
reaching for the sky
a big erection
you can see for miles
it’s a popular
tourist attraction
tho’
the tone is
decidedly
facistic
on and out of the park
cross the busy road
arrive
at rows of
suburban villas
find the one
I’m looking for
and walk up
the winding park
it looks quite small
this modernist abode
invited in
by kindly curator
who points to the
coat rack and toilet
and goes back
to her meeting
am left to explore
whole place
is flooded
with sunlight
it’s so hot
remove a
couple of layers
then spend
2 happy hours
photographing this
’30s home
enchanted by it’s
clear curves
glass brick facade
pinkish ripples
drifting across the walls
a downstairs room
with pale lemon curtains
+ a red laquered piano
2 faded chairs
+ a chrome table
sit on a black circle
upstairs
the bedroom
has a pillar
that spews hot air
surfaces and sills
covered in
in a lustrous
emerald glass
the bathroom suite
is custard yellow
the walls
mottled green
like a gathering
of moss families
2 large chrome
+ hinged mirrors
sit above
twin sinks
extravangant
for a time
when bathrooms
were rare
stumble into
servant’s quarters
woodwork and doors
painted
cerulean blue
a demarkated zone
small rooms at the top
full of light
and amazing views
of lakes and hills
around the city
photograph + film
steadily
thoughout
this sun-lit afternoon
leaving as the
sun goes down
heading back to town
next
nasjonalmuseet
enter through massive doors
deeply carved
weighty
the marble floors
and stairs
are the colour of
raw liver
driven through
with stiletto shaped
trilobytes
could almost
pick them out
colour coded rooms
indicate the centuries
apricot – twentieth
lt blue – nineteenth
terracotta -older stuff etc
the pièce de résistance
munch’s rooms
with the scream
behind obligatory
perspex panel
the sinuous bleeding
oranges and pinks
the chalky greens
and blues
whorl around
the dead-eyed
screaming figure
2 stiff blokes
in ultramarine
hover in the background
two sailing ships
sit in side by side
in the middle distance
quickly trip round
the other stuff
colourful abstracts
stylised figures
expressionists
matisse followers
the naturalistic nature brigade
+ then an exhib
of woodblock prints
black and white
graphic and subtle
from 18th c japan
to 21th c norway
a good old mix
a contemporary artist
whilst in residence
has taken
a political stance
or détournement
using the floor
as his printing block
the resulting prints
metres square
fill the walls
with talking heads
and political sophistry
back to the pensjonat
for a meal
spinachy pasta
a banana
and a vodka alcopop
apart from
the train
the plane
the underground
another train
that’s it
residency over
back to ‘normal’
tomorrow
