The garden car

Arne Rygg, an artist working with Tag-Team Studio in Bergen is obviously not truely enamoured of the relationship Norwegians, and particularly Bergenese have with the car! Hence the use of his own car as an art installation with trees.

The car is parked directly under a motorway bridge in Bergen - luckily there are no parking restrictions here! Cars are extremely expensive here due to high taxes, but many families will own at least one car.

If you do not have a car, it is not so easy to get around. You can take a bus, (or the single line tramway from central Bergen to Nesttun!) but as everyone knows, their routes are limited to main roads, and there are many long, narrow, winding roads following the steep hillsides around Bergen, which are not served by a bus route. Add to that the fact that Bergen is the wettest city in northern Europe (over 80 inches of rain a year!) it is undertandable that those who can afford a car prefer to use that rather than take a chance with the weather.

There are other, environemntal, reasons though behind this art installation. Bergen is also, surprisingly enough, home to one of the most polluted areas in Europe, Danmarks plass (not a stone's throw from where this 'car' is parked). Full of new appartment blocks, and touted as a blueprint for the town of the future, Danmarks plass also suffers from inverse pollution which occurs during the winter when icey cold air pushes down between the mountains and traps all traffic exhaust fumes at ground level. There are days when asthma sufferers, the elderly and families with new-born babies are advised to stay home.

Other art creations in this exhibition include prints made from air-borne dust collected from around Danmarks plass. Environmental art certainly makes you stop and think!