The Viewers

2019—Performance; Ekeberg Park, Frogner Park, Birkelundpark, Grønlands torg, Jernbanetorget, The Nobel Peace Centre, The Opera House, Torshov Park, University Square, The Y-block, The Youngstorget Square.
ParticipantsCarole Douillard

Information

Carole Douillard’s project The Viewers is an outdoor living sculpture. A group of diverse people stand motionless and stare at passers-by in busy city landscapes. You could experience them in several locations in Oslo during 2019.

More information about the evolution of the project will follow.

The Viewers

What’s in a look? If someone stares, you stare back, don’t you? Or do you look away? In public space standing and looking is often synonymous with exposing yourself to being looked at. Standing together in a group might grant you power, but at the same time it makes you vulnerable because you are more visible than yourself alone.

Carole Douillard’s project for osloBIENNALEN is about exactly this: a living sculpture made up of a group of people who stand still and look at passers-by or a point in the urban landscape. And there they stand – for a long time. Where and when they do this is agreed in advance. They stand together, silent, attentive, contemplative even. If you take the time to look back, you might recognise the individual ways that ‘the viewers’ are enacting their personal and collective presence. To stand in front of a crowd is something not many people are comfortable with. At the same time, there is something hypnotic about looking, and being looked at profoundly. If you pass a group of people on the street who are clearly looking at you, do you look back?

LOCATIONS FOR EXPERIENCING THE VIEWERS, in 2019:

A EKEBERG PARK is a City of Oslo woodland park containing an international sculpture collection donated by the businessman Christian Ringnes, the park is also maintained by the C. Ludens Ringnes Foundation.

B FROGNER PARK has 214 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland including The Monolith, a striking, 17-meter-tall column hewn from a single granite block.

C BIRKELUND PARK is a centrally located park area in Oslo, in the middle of the former workers' neighbourhood of Grünerløkka. Birkelund park was laid out in the 1860s and has an idyllic location between Grünerløkka School to the east and St. Paul Church to the west.

The Viewers in Birkelund Park. Photo: Asle Olsen

D GRØNLANDS TORG was for a long time the largest market square in Oslo but today is no more than a narrow public concourse along Grønland Street.

The Viewers at Grønland torg. Photo: Asle Olsen

E JERNBANETORGET is a busy square in front of Oslo Central station and Østbanehallen in the centre of Oslo.

The Viewers at Oslo Central Station. Photo: Inger Marie Grini.

F THE NOBEL PEACE CENTRE at the former Oslo West Station presents the histories of recipients of the Peace Prize.

The Viewers (left) flanked by a tourist group (right) by the Nobel Peace Prize Center. Photo: Asle Olsen

G THE OPERA HOUSE IN BJØRVIKA, designed by Snøhetta, was completed in 2008 and has quickly become one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations.

The Viewers at the Opera House. Photo: Niklas Hart / Hartwork.

H TORSHOV PARK includes a memorial site for the women’s liberationist, politician and literary critic Fernanda Nissen.

I UNIVERSITY SQUARE on Karl Johans gate is surrounded by three university buildings in the neoclassical style.

The Viewers. Photo: Asle Olsen

J THE Y-BLOCK is a part of the Government District in Oslo, designed by Erling Viksjø and built in 1969. The building was damaged during a terrorist attack in 2011 and is now due for demolition.

The Viewers by Y-Block. Photo by Asle Olsen

K THE YOUNGSTORGET SQUARE plays a central role during the annual May 1 celebration.

The Viewers at Youngstorget. Photo: Asle Olsen
osloBIENNALENFIRST EDITION