Crane Ballet

Museum of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design
Oslo, Norway

02.05.2016

It’s the second day of May in 2016. The foundation stone for the new National Museum in Oslo is to be ceremoniously laid down at the harbourside construction site, and Queen Sonja, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and Tori Wrånes have been invited to preside over the occasion. Attired in simple clothing, Wrånes walks onto the site and sings Solveig’s Song by Edvard Grieg, a song about waiting. While she continues singing, a few construction workers step forward and help her put on the backpack the queen has placed the foundation stone in. She gets hooked to a wire, and after she has been secured, one of the construction cranes lifts her up until she is hovering forty metres over the ground. As she takes off, the bells of the nearby City Hall chime in, and Wrånes begins improvising with the bells, creating a musical dialogue with the surroundings of the new museum. The construction site vibrates with the sound of this song, and the remaining construction cranes reply by lifting up some of the machines. For a few minutes, a compressor, a lift, and a small exca vator all dance together with Wrånes up there in the air. The choreographed aerial ballet is steered by the workers sitting behind the controls. When Wrånes lands with the foundation stone, all the ship horns from the pier join in for a concluding fanfare.

Project coordinator:
Birgitte Bye

Photo:
Trond A. Isaksen

Video:

Gustav O. Gunvaldsen

Production:
Tori Wrånes in collaboration with Statsbygg, Oslo Clocktower with Laura Marie Rueslåtten and the boats at the harbour.

Tori Wrånes, Øystein Johnsen, Laura Marie Rueslåtten, Hans Jørgen Aase, Olav Borgar Midtveit, Birgitte Bye, Samir Zjakic, Marcin Gawron, Daniel Culbertsson, Gunn Tove Grønsberg, Håvard Hervik, Nicholas Khandji, Asle Karstad, Tomas Glans, Lisa Asplund, Andreas Breivik, Gustav O. Gunvaldsen, Kaja Haven, Victoine Qui Wetuh, Ellen Uglevik, AF, Norled and Statsbygg.