Follow the Money

Public space artwork in Romsås Center, Groruddalen, Oslo

‘Follow the Money’ is investigation into the funds of the Norwegian State. According to official country information, Norway is one of the richest countries in the world, and the only European country that doesn’t have any foreign debt. On another hand the municipality of Oslo states that it is very poor and needs to save money even on health care. The streets, parks, and public transport are among the most visible signs for a visitor to the city, and in the eastern side of Oslo they are obviously quite badly maintained.

The drawing is following to where all that oil-money, which Norway is famous for, is going. It is aiming to bring this visible in an easily readable form, because, although there is great openness regarding these issues by the Norwegian State, the amount of information is so huge, and sometimes not very clearly presented, that it is difficult to grasp.

The underground station of Romsås is designed by architect Håkon Mjelva in 1974 and is an impressive example of beton architecture, that is often pejoratively connected with the 70s suburban development. For the past 15 years the overpass in the metro station had been boarded-up with ply-wood boards. These had originally been of glass, but once broken, had been ‘temporarily’ replaced by these plywood boards. Over the summer 2013 as part of major works in the metro line, the metro station of Romsås was renovated and the plywood boards became useless.

A spiral structure was constructed of those boards, which was placed in the Romsås Center, above the Metro Station. I made my drawing on them and the exhibition was opened the same day as the renovated metro line.

The project is realized with the Kulturbyrået Mesen, in collaboration with the Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute, FINNO.

Link to the project’s own website Follow the Money 

Link to the project in the website of Kulturbyrået Mesen