GIF of Elmo in flames, subtly symbolizing upheaval and disorder.

BERGEN KUNSTHALL PROJECT — ODEE

11 April — 27 April 2025

Earlier this year, I announced to my university that I would paint a mural as part of my master’s work for the graduation exhibition at Bergen Kunsthall—but that I would not reveal the mural’s content or the full concept until the exhibition day.

The University of Bergen (UiB) and the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design (KMD), along with Bergen Kunsthall, feared that my artwork might follow the controversial path of my previous projects, which led to a legal battle in the High Court of London. They claimed my mural could potentially contain something illegal, justifying demands for disclosure under the guise of risk analysis, health and safety, and ethical compliance. Yet, in doing so, UiB began accumulating legal and ethical violations of its own.

Preemptive Censorship and its Impact

The institutions attempted to preemptively censor my artwork—before it had even been revealed.

This intervention fundamentally altered the work. By stepping into the piece, the institutions became its primary subjects. In my practice, research is not ancillary to the artwork—it is the artwork.

Here lies the paradox: the artwork initially contained nothing illegal. Yet, by censoring it based on what it might contain, the university violated several national laws, including Paragraph 100 of the Norwegian Constitution, and infringed upon Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In doing so, they introduced illegality into the work themselves—a self-fulfilling reality.

Social Sculpture and Participatory Art

The artwork is dynamic and fundamentally participatory. My practice aligns with the tradition of social sculpture, a term coined by Joseph Beuys in the 1970s. Beuys believed that art wasn’t limited to objects, but that society itself could be shaped like a sculpture through thought, dialogue, and participation. Bergen Kunsthall Project (BKP) follows in the conceptual lineage of my previous works like MOM Air and We’re Sorry.

BKP features a large-scale mural inside Bergen Kunsthall—a giant black-and-white QR code painted directly onto the south wall of the main exhibition space.

The Concept Behind the QR Code and the Website

As a conceptual artist, the mind is my primary medium. The greatest achievement is not to create a work that exists in a space—but to create one that exists in someone else’s mind. That’s where the work lives.

The QR code leads to a website that, at first glance, resembles Kunsthall’s own official site—blurring the lines between fiction and reality. The domain: kunsthall.art.

Hijacking Communication Channels

In this way, I have hijacked the communication channels of the institutions—both the university and Kunsthall. The very institutions that attempted to suppress me have now been reappropriated, giving me the power to express whatever I want, whenever I want.

The site—constantly evolving—is both an archive and an amplifier. It documents the project’s unfolding: its press, its public intrigue, and the institutional contradictions it exposes. Remotely editable at any time, it functions as a liberated exhibition space. The wall at Bergen Kunsthall now hosts a living artwork through which I can continuously test the boundaries of freedom of expression.

The Power of Provocation

These are not fleeting gestures. They are time-stamped provocations with cultural, intellectual, and historical weight. A social sculpture built from lived experience—one that will resonate far beyond this exhibition.

I don’t make work to be immediately understood. I want it to be felt, misunderstood, debated—maybe even dismissed—until it can’t be ignored.