PRESS RELEASE: GLOWING ART TO SIGNAL THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED VAULT

When Svalbard Global Seed Vault is officially inaugurated on 26 February 2008, only the entrance housing Dyveke Sanne’s art project will be visible. The building’s primary function is as storage place carved out of the mountain – a secure vault for up to 4.5 million different types of seeds from around the world. The art project will give the building visibility day and night. 

The voluminous heights of the building and the top of the façade are filled with triangles in highly reflective, acid proof steel. The triangles are of different sizes and aligned in relationship to each other. Together with other elements like dichroic mirrors and prisms, they break up the light and disperse onto the surroundings in a multitude of different directions. The public will not have access to the building.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault is necessary to secure the world’s seed resources facing the adverse consequences of war, pollution, and climate change. The seeds in the vault are duplicates of seed collections gathered from over 1400 gene banks around the world. The temperature in the vault is approximately minus 18 degrees Celsius. The Norwegian government has financed the project and own the vault building, which is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The seeds are owned by those who deposit them in the vault.  Statsbygg (The Directorate of Public Construction and Property) are responsible for the building and the technical running of it, while the Nordic Gene Bank have responsibility for the contents. The Global Crop Diversity Trust will finance the preparation and transport costs for developing countries. An international council will secure the interests of the users.

Dyveke Sanne on the art project:

The depths of the seed vault are out of sight. Yet, its contents reflect a meaning and a complexity that affects us. From the moment we become aware of its existence, we are reminded of our own position in a global perspective and the condition of our planet. The seeds carry an obligation to the future. They are copies for a diverse landscape that demands cyclical repetition of actions, rather than continued faith in the designated original and linear progression.

The mirrored surfaces do not betray any underlying contents. They copy and reflect what they receive. Close up you can see yourself in the mirrors, further away you become part of the landscape or are blinded by the reflected light. The reflections come together and shift internally according to the position of the viewer.

The aim of the art project is to contribute to reflection over Svalbard Global Seed Vault. In the worst-case scenario its contents will be crucial to the world’s population. This building signals the current state of our planet.

Dyveke Sanne was educated at the Academy of Arts and Crafts and the Academy of Fine Art. Over the last few years she has been working on large-scale art commissions for state and local authorities. Her works deal with the phenomena of light and shadows in a shifting reality, often closely connected to architecture and space.

The art is commissioned and produced by Public Art Norway (KORO).

Press contact for the art project:
Hilde Herming
Direct line: + 47 2299 1180/99
Mobile: + 47 91 69 43 90
hh@koro.no
www.koro.no

Press contact for Svalbard Global Seed Vault:
Ole G. Hertzenberg
Mobile: + 47 90 10 04 42
Ole.G.Hertzenberg@faktotum.no
www.frohvelv.no