Outdoor sculpture for Stokke youth school. Norway
Material: Light gray, red and yello granite. Made 2017
Sculpture as an identity-creating hub with sitting and mingling opportunities. For pupils in secondary school, toys are something that one would consider to be a laid-back stage. This sculpture is not a "toy sculpture" but a kind of memorial / monument of the significance of toys in one's life. Sandefjord is a municipality where traveling by sea and in the air has been important in people's lives and work. With this sculpture I have been concerned with travel and evolution from an expanded and poetic point of view. And I have wanted to create movement in water, air and space in a solid and durable material; granite. The sculpture also contains a linear figure series that can create associations with the history of evolution. The series consists of a bird (parrot) monkey (similar to a Starwars wookie) and a Lego figure representing both man and a robot. It is the human / robot that controls the "vessel", the monkey is the crew and the parrot has the full overview. One can get the impression that the "vessel" is breaking waves at sea, or is a flying blanket, or a fluttering sheet of paper. My idea is that this work will create a number of associations and thoughts about man's journey through time and space, through knowledge and development. The sculpture group also says something about artificial intelligence and computer science. It has a design language comparable to data generated 3D modeling and data games with its pure geometry, while also referring to Lego toys and science fiction. The title "Fantasy Mutants" refers to how impressions from childhood's toys and film / gaming experiences blend with the things we surround ourselves with and activities we do as youth and the elderly. Childhood impressions become important elements of our own expression and identity as we grow older. The Danang Sculpture Foundation in Vietnam was a Norwegian development cooperation project initiated by the sculptor Øyvin Storbækken. In 2003, Øyvin received funding from Norad ( Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) and the Norwegian Church Aid to build a stone carving workshop by the marble mountains outside the city of Da Nang. It lasted until about 2008, during which time he trained 13 Vietnamese. The local stone cutters were trained in modeling, copying, enlargement and advanced stone carving in addition to English teaching. Today, the workshop is self-run and do work for artists from many different countries. |