Shall We Dance?
Asphalt painting, concrete benches
approx 4000 x 700 x 42cm (10 benches), 2017
Commissioned by Oslo Municipality
For Kongensgata, downtown Oslo, Norway
Curated by Ingrid Økland/ Kulturbyrået Mesén
Sound design by K8 Industridesign
Photography by
Øystein Thorvaldsen
Featured by The Guardian as one of "10 of the best outdoor art installations worldwide"
Press |The Guardian, 30/08/2018
It’s a traditional complaint about urban life: there’s never anywhere to park. But in the 21st century, do cities actually need less parking space, not more?
In fact, to mitigate climate change and make cities more pedestrian-friendly, more policy makers around the world are aiming to ban cars. "Shall we dance?" is thus a 2 years art project commissioned by By-miljøetaten to transform a former car parking into a pedestrian area in Kongensgata south, downtown Oslo.
The composition of "Shall we dance?" expresses the sounds and movement of the parking lines in a playful and rhythmic composition inspired by Laban notations on modern dance. The former parking machine is transformed into a loudspeaker with bluetooth technology to allow you to listen your favourite music while dancing.
It presents a low budget solution for local planning challenges with a possible high reward in the development of social capital between citizens and urban livability.
The project also includes a revegetation of the space and a larger footpath.
