Talking to Torunn Larsen (Rogaland Kunstsenter)

Spoke yesterday to Tounn about my proposal for Stavanger 2008. She seemed to like the idea of locating a wind turbine on top of the bridge but I think we both know that what happens beneath needs more consideration. I personally feel that I need to go back to Stavanger soon in order to refresh my memory of the place and to get a better understanding of the site in terms of those who use it, the community. We have pencilled in 25th October as a date for me to come and present my ideas to the arts centre for feedback.
Torunn seems very excited about the future of the art centre in the city, and its changing function. She wants to redefine its role away from that of consumption, towards one of redistribution or giving back: social engagement, human ecology. I have always thought of my own work as a kind of 'relinking' so we seem to be on the same wave length. She is very concerned about the lazy thinking of politicians and the public in Norway who unfortunately have the luxury of wealth (based on oil) to hide the realities of climate change. Rather than basing change on thrift, there seems to be a tendency to rebuild and thereby consume more. To pay the bill you simply 'off-set' the costs through carbon trading, a market created by those with wealth for those with wealth - a 21st century version of the 'paying your indulgences'. But this time the God of the marketplace sees that you are spoken for.