In the context of harbour redevelopment in Oslo
COMMON LANDS – ALLMANNARETTEN
8 April / 23 April / 30 April 2010
At various sites in Bjørvika, Oslo
Bik Van der Pol, Dellbrügge & de Moll, Geir Tore Holm and Søssa Jørgensen
In the planning and structuring of Bjørvika, the concept commons has been given great emphasis. Common Lands – Allmannaretten is an exhibition project that uses the process of redevelopment to highlight a number of issues associated with urban development, democracy, access to and the distribution of land. The project is curated by Åse Løvgren and Karolin Tampere.
The artist duos Bik Van der Pol, Dellbrügge & de Moll, Geir Tore Holm and Søssa Jørgensen were commissioned to develop art projects that take the transformation of the area as a starting point. During April 2010, the three projects will be presented at various sites across this new area of Oslo.
8 April / 23 April / 30 April
Living in Bjørvika
Geir Tore Holm and Søssa Jørgensen
The notion of art as dialogue-in-practice has been central to the collaborative work of Holm and Jørgensen. In the project Living in Bjørvika, they investigate Richard Florida’s theories of the ‘creative class’ and the goals of a culturally and socially diverse population for this new urban area of Oslo.
Living in Bjørvika will present models and ideas for possible alternatives to the current plan for the area, with a view to addressing gaps in the projected framework.
Will there be artists living and working in Bjørvika?
8 April / 23 April / 30 April
One fine day, all this will be yours
Dellbrügge & Moll
As a second stage of their project One fine day, all this will be yours. Dellbrügge & de Moll publish a libretto, staging agonistic encounters on common lands. Far from constructing a consistent whole Dellbrügge & de Moll keep adding layers: The west onto the north, the concept of private property onto the idea of common land, and the medium of film onto the medium of opera. By employing the Situationist technique of superimposing a map of one context onto another, the libretto borrows dialogs from Western movies to address issues at stake in Bjørvika. The libretto, which will be handed over as a present, challenges the visitors to become agents and enact the scenarios of conflicts over land use and participation.
8 April / 23 April / 30 April
Speculation
Bik Van der Pol
We should have asylum seekers; poor people should have flats in the area. This is reclaimed land, where the gypsies, the sailors, the addicts, the whores, the truck-drivers have been. All operate on the outskirts of society. The Opera is taking back this area and is giving it to the bourgeoisie.
We can imagine the uproar. How can we destroy the purity of planning? Can we conceive of another kind of future? Other perspectives? (from the script for ‘Speculation’)
In November 2009, Bik Van der Pol gathered a group of people in Oslo to speculate with them on the future of Bjørvika. On the Common Lands web-site a blog is available to make the speculation open for influences and rewritings before and after the results of this session will be presented in downtown Oslo.
Please visit www.commonlands.net for specific locations, previous activities and the online publication, Art as Protagonist?
Common Lands – Allmannaretten is a pilot project for Bjørvika public art program. Supported by Bjørvika Utvikling AS, Agency for Cultural Affairs (City of Oslo), Agency for Planning and Building Services (City of Oslo), Nordic Black Theatre, MS Innvik, Arts Council Norway.
