Day 3 - Oslo - Part 1: Vigeland Park

Impressively, Todd did get up early and go for a run. I have a hard enough time doing this at home, there was no way I would have managed it while traveling. I was out the door not too far behind him and off to the park for an hour or so of picture taking. Unfortunately, the weather was still cloudy, so the light wasn't ideal. Which may have actually been just as well, since I still managed to take a couple hundred photos. Had the light been better I may have gotten way out of control!




Vigeland not only created the sculptures, he also designed the layout of the park. Over a period of about 40 years. It's unfortunate that cities today don't have the interest in giving an artist essentially free reign to design and lay out a park. Especially here in the States. It would be wonderful to see that sort of gem added to a city.




It's hard to describe the sculptures. They and the park were both completed in the early/mid 1940s, so I imagine that the war had an influence. I've been trying to read up a bit on Vigeland and what message he may have been presenting. Information is a bit sparse outside of Norway (I knew I should have bought a book there!) and some of it is contradictory. All explanations seem to agree on an interpretation of the cycle of life. And to me, many of the sculptures seem to show the fear and despair of adults that have lived through a war contrasted with the spritely innocence of children who have not seen the horrors of war.




The fountain is surrounded by smaller images, some touching, some disturbing. A large brick plaza surrounds the fountain, and the rest of the park seems to radiate out from there. Up several flights of steps, each level with small fountains and flowers, the final raised plaza contains the possibly more famous granite statues and the towering monolith.



The plaza from which the tower arises is accessed by four different gates, each ornately designed. Especially looking at the gates, I felt like someone reading a story that was only able to get short snatches of meaning. Just enough to realize there was a much larger story there, but not enough to quite grasp it.





The granite statues are perhaps even more intriguing than the cast bronze ones on the bridge. All the bodies are slightly larger than life size. The women are curvy, with very little definition. Many of the men have some muscle definition, but what definition is given speaks of strength. Again, the adults have a vaguely haunted look behind their eyes, while the children frolic. It being early in the morning, I had the chance to be almost alone for some time. Which was wonderful. I feel like all my descriptions fall far short of the mark, so I'll just let the photos speak.