The Cabinet Minister Units and the Press Room. Budget: 1 800 000 NOK

The Press Room is located on the ground floor of T9, whereas the two Cabinet Minister Units are located on the third and sixth floor, respectively. The three sites have the same concrete wall that runs vertically through the whole building, with a surface area of 6 x 12 meters and 6 x 6 meters (over two floors), respectively. The Art Committee are looking for wall-based, site-specific works for these three walls. The wall in the Press Room is visible from the Reception area through a glass partition. The walls in the Cabinet Minister Unit are located in the most open and representative entrance areas.

The Press Room is intended to be used for press conferences and meetings several times a week. These are usually open to invited guests and journalists with press passes. Excerpts from such press conferences are often broadcast on TV and through other mass media, so the work of art would also be made visible through these means. 

The Cabinet Minister Units are often perceived as more secluded and hidden from public view. The Art Committee would like to play on the contrast between the highly visible and accessible Press Room and the more inaccessible areas in the Cabinet Minister Units, where executive power is concentrated. The Art Committee also sees an interesting contrast between where such decisions are made and where they are publicly presented, and we are envisaging a work of art that relates critically to both sites and can raise the issue of the relationship between power and the mass media and the public, who ultimately legitimates the exercise of this power. 

The Art Committee sees the potential for a critical art project in the Cabinet Minister Units, which can operate (without offending) to raise consciousness in relation to the ministers’ responsibilities and positions. In this way, the works of art here can illustrate the potential of artistic expression, which the Committee deems, not only a requirement in public spaces, but also in the “corridors of power”.

The Art Committee is envisaging the formation of some sort of artistic connection between these three sites: visually, thematically and/or conceptually. The fact that the three walls cannot be seen simultaneously presents the challenge to the artist of uniting them. For the building’s users this connection will soon be made clear, whereas for temporary visitors the works need to function on their own, as well as providing another layer of meaning through their relationship to each other. It may be useful for the artist to provide some sort of complimentary material, for example, a publication that shows all the wall-based works together.

The Art Committee has chosen to reserve the other floors of the same wall that runs vertically through the building. These wall surfaces can be found in the meeting rooms on each floor. The Committee does not necessarily want to utilize all this wall space for art, but have asked for any decisions on the decoration, design or colour of these walls to be postponed until the art projects for Press Room and the Cabinet Minister Units have been commissioned. This process may be carried out in dialogue with the artists.

Completing of the project

The project is advertised internationally as an open call for a prequalification. The deadline is 25 June 2010. Due to the demanding nature of the projects, the Art Committee reserves the right to invite artists who have not participated in the prequalification stage. The selected artists’ proposals for the indoor projects will be assessed in relation to each other and in relation to Do Ho Suh’s project so as to achieve an aesthetic and representative balance that will function well as a whole. 

Based on the submitted proposals and the invitation of any other suitable candidates, we are aiming to commission projects directly. A possible alternative would be to invite artists to a closed concept competition with two or three participants, if this is deemed a more suitable course of action.

The Art Committee believes it is necessary to work in close dialogue with the artist commissioned for the Press Room/Cabinet Minister Units, which makes it essential to plan for such a process and select an artist who can make this possible.