Arne Nordheim – Dråpen (The Drop)
Bekkelaget Renseanlegg (Purification Plant)
16 September, 12.30 & 2.30 pm
Bus from Sentrum Scene (Arbeidersamfunnets plass 1)
Tickets: 100 NOK
(NB: No on-site parking facilities. Tickets include shuttle bus)
Bus departs at time stated on ticket, from Sentrum Scene. NB: because of the Oslo Marathon, transport will be subject to detours and delays. We recommend planning a little extra time for your journeys today!
In the late 90s, when a mountain cavern underneath Ekeberg was designated to be hollowed out to house a sewage purification plant for eastern Oslo, Arne Nordheim saw it as an opportunity to create the world’s largest interactive composition. He wanted it to resonate around the sewage pools: 32 loudspeakers, 2500 metres of cable and 12 sound programmes running through 500 million variations would be controlled by signals received from the purification systems. So, whether they like it or not, whenever an Oslo resident takes a shower or flushes the toilet, they are co-composing and shaping the sound within the plant. It was especially after morning ablutions and the evening news, Nordheim remarked, that the mountain hall really began to sing.
Dråpen is a unique work, and one of Oslo’s hidden gems. During Ultima he public will once again have the opportunity to explore this excremental edifice, the only time in the year when the plant is open the the public.
Lars Mørch Finborud (author of Ozenfant, Ozenfant and curator at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter) will act as your guide, donning his hard hat and outlining Nordheim’s vision. Process engineer Thomas Aubell (Bekkelaget Vann AS) will explain the technical side.
Arne Nordheim's Dråpen was realized in 2001-02 through the Oslo kommunes kunstordning and is part of the Oslo City Art Collection.
