Siri Aurdal *1937, graphic designer and sculptor, Oslo
In February 1969, Aurdal wins a 1st prize in the competition for proposals of artistic decorations of Oslo’s schools and schoolyards with „miljøskapende kunst“. Aurdals proposal is an outdoor playable sculpture (see article Osloskolene mangler miljøskapende kunst – Oslo schools lack environmentally creative art).
The sculpture, taged later Havbølger (ocean waves) by pupils (see list of possible names) is unveiled on Octobre 1972 in the schoolyard of Trosterud Elementary school, in the suburbs of Oslo. The sculpture is composed of prefabricated, fiberglass-coated polyester pipes, used in the oil industry. The pipes are cut up and put together into concave and convex, low-wave shapes. (norske kunstnerleksikon)
For Kim West (about Havbølger) „The connotations to an airplane body, or even a parked fighter plane, are clearer than ever. The formal language borders on the aggressive: the silhouette of the work is sharp, swift, and suggests the menacingly purposeful – at the same time as the halved tubes are painted in cheerful primary colors and are the site of children’s play, the ideal type of a free, non-instrumental practice.“
Siri Aurdal exhibits this type of modular and walkable „weave sculpture“ for the first time at Kunstnernes Hus Oslo in 1969: Omgivelser (Surroundings). Aurdal invites visitors to climb onto it, write on it, and turn it into a social space. (Oslo pilot, httpss://archive.oslopilot.no/2016/08/13/waves-in-the-park-2/)
For Will Bradley it is a stage on her way connecting sculpture with architecture and movement, and it adopted the weave form as its central visual element. Omgivelser functioned as an experimental machine for creating sensory effects. Later, she proposed a sculpture similar to Havbølger, but in a extended, and unpainted form, at the 15th Biennial, Antwerpen, Belgium.
Aurdal made other projects for schools, but Havbølger was the only playable. It was taken down in 1998, and destroyed.
sources:
Aurdal, Siri, and Eline Mugaas. Siri Aurdal. Brooklyn, NY: Primary Information, 2016.
Oslo pilot, https://archive.oslopilot.no/2016/08/13/waves-in-the-park-2/
Siri Aurdal in norske kunstnerleksikon
Kim West: Successful Launch of Three-Stage Canonization Rocket, in Nordic Art Review, 8.6.2018
Will Bradley, „The New Environement„, in Siri Aurdal, 2016, p. 331-335.