18.06.2009

PRESS RELEASE: Vito Acconci proposal wins art competition For the Amphitheatre at the New Concert Hall in Stavanger

The Acconci Studio in New York has won the competition for the commission of the Amphitheatre at the New Concert Hall in Stavanger competing against other noted and internationally-known artists. - The city of Stavanger can be proud to get an art project by Vito Acconci. The project can be understood in many ways and will enhance the experience of the Amphitheatre as a meeting place and arena, says jury leader Dyveke Sanne.

Vito Acconci is a prominent artist in the international art arena. As early as the 1960s he was noted for experimental and independent art projects. His installations and performance projects have included text, video, art photo, sound pieces, film and himself. In 1988 he established the Acconci Studio in Brooklyn, New York, which focusses on social existence and the relation between public and private space in both architecture and landscape architecture. Vito Acconci was, with his lecture ”operating (on) the city”, a participant at the Stavanger 2008 symposium Site and Art, in April 2007.

The Art Committee for the New Concert Hall in Stavanger set an ambitious level when it invited the participants for the competition for art in the Amphitheatre: Studio Acconci (New York), Rachel Whiteread (London), Lars Ramberg (Berlin), Marit Justine Haugen / Dan Zohar (Oslo), Thomas Nordström /Annika Oskarsson (Stockholm) and Viel Bjerkeset Andersen (Oslo).

In the competition programme, the Art Committee/jury wrote: - An art project associated with the amphitheatre needs to start from the intentions and social structures of the site and enhance them. It needs to be able to enter into a dialogue with the site, to be inviting, inclusive and challenging, and encourage participation in various ways. At the same time, the work should have a high degree of integrity and add a distinctive dimension to the setting of the Concert Hall.
In evaluating the six proposals, the jury concluded: - The Acconci Studio proposal complies with all points. It is an art project with a strong integrity, where the human aspect is central both socially and culturally and as a thought.

The Art Committee has acted as jury: Dyveke Sanne, jury leader and art consultant, Anne-Marte Eidseth Rygh, art consultant, Per Harald Nilsson, representing Stavanger Concert Hall, Christine Sagen Helgø, representing Stavanger City Council, Cecilie Bjelland, clients representative New Concert Hall in Stavanger IKS and Marianne Dale representing Medplan AS Architects. Public Art Norway (KORO) is responsible for the art programme, assigned by Nytt Konserthus i Stavanger IKS. The Art project is led by Public Art Norway - KORO commissioned by the New Concert Hall in Stavanger IKS.

Illustrations and more information: www.koro.no, www.konserthus.no, www.acconci.com

Sincerely,
Beate Styri, Head of Communications, KORO,
direct: +47 22 99 11 80, mob. +47 90 60 66 61, bst@koro.no