Monday, June 24, 2013

A celebration of life

The Vigeland Park, Oslo

There’s no lack of artistic sculptures in Oslo, adding a lot more warmth to the city and complementing the abundant pockets of green space in the cityscape.  Being the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist, Oslo’s Vigeland Park was considered quite avant-garde at the time it was created in the 19th century.  Home to 227 granite and bronze sculptures, the sculptures were created by Norway’s famous sculptor Gusrav Vigeland,  I really like how there is a display of so many different emotions in the sculptures, not just facial expressions, but also very expressive body language, ranging from the affection between humans to the experiences of a child from birth to death. The focal point in the park is the cycle of life monolith which is a huge monolith of bodies with circles of statutes depicting the cycles of life.  With 121 figures carved from a single granite block of 17.3m, it shows Vigeland’s interpretation for the human’s longing and yearning for the spiritual and divine.  One of my favorite sculptures is the Wheel of Life, which displays connecting humans through happiness, sadness, anger, and fear.  It is also a symbol of eternity in the use of a garland of women, men and children holding hands.





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