An artwork that tells the story of NGI
Ceramicist Halvor Digernes is putting the finishing touches on the artwork that will hang just inside the main entrance of Campus Ullevål at Sognsveien 72. More than 120 tiles are being glazed with quick clay, sediments, limestone, granites, and rhomb porphyry from NGI projects around the world.
Halvor Digernes examines a scale model of the artwork, made before production of the full-size mosaic began. ( Photo: Krister Jung-Lian / NGI)
Halvor Digernes is under serious time pressure. At the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, where he has spent the past several months working on the ceramic piece destined for the entrance hall of Campus Ullevål, less than a month remains before the work must be installed and ready for the move-in date of 16 June. And the work is far from finished.
"I didn't get confirmation of the commission until January, and I had already filled my calendar for the first half of the year. Fortunately, I have an extra gear I can shift into when I need to, so this will work out," Digernes says with a smile.
Halvor Digernes and a colleague search for rocks in Arnstein's garden pond in Lørenskog. ( Photo: Arnstein Aarset / NGI)
Rock and sediment from around the world
The work was commissioned by the art group for Campus Ullevål, representing NGI and Aspelin Reitan, as part of the building's art programme. Digernes won the competition with a proposal inspired by a rock face: a three-dimensional mosaic measuring 4.5 by 3.5 meters. Each tile is glazed with a specific geological material drawn from NGI's project history, Digernes' own collections, and Norwegian materials available in commercial production.
"I proposed to create a wall piece drawing its inspiration from a mine," says Digernes.
The full scale of the work becomes clear from above: Digernes works directly on the raw clay surface. ( Photo: Åsmund Holien Mo / Bow)
An office building with the soul of NGI
The idea of linking the artwork to NGI's professional work came from a conversation between Digernes and Arnstein Aarset, Head of Section for Engineering Geology and Rock Engineering at NGI. Aarset had been involved early on in the building's user committee, arguing that the entrance should communicate what the institute does.
"When you walk through the door at Campus Ullevål, you should feel a connection to the science of natural elements, where rock and soil form the foundation. This is not a typical office building," Aarset says firmly.
Aarset also contributed materials directly to the artwork. For years, he has collected rock samples from fieldwork and tunnel projects worldwide.
"At home in Lørenskog, I have a small pond in the garden where I've accumulated quite a collection of geological gems, including pegmatites, larvikite, rhomb porphyry, and thulite," says Aarset.
Before Easter, Digernes visited Aarset at home and left with a selection of Norwegian rock classics for use in the artwork. The two also visited NGI's off-site storage at Alnabru to go through the rock collection from the old NGI building.
"The base glaze in the work is made from nepheline syenite from Nordkapp, marble from Fauske, kaolin from Hurdal, titanium dioxide produced in Fredrikstad, birch ash from the Oslo Sauna Association, and a small amount of blue clay from the building site itself on Ullevål," Digernes explains.
Over this base, each section of the mosaic is glazed with one specific material.
"There are core samples from boreholes in Iran and the Himalayas, rocks from Greenland retrieved at a depth of 105 meters, drilling sand from the Irish Sea and from Long Island in New York, as well as quick clay and sand samples from Norwegian projects, to name a few examples," says Digernes.
Digernes handles a raw clay tile at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Each of the more than 120 tiles is hand-shaped. ( Photo: Åsmund Holien Mo / Bow)
"Geology on speed"
The production process is painstaking. The rocks are crushed, ground, and fired at high temperatures.
"Glazes behave like small, controlled lavas on the surface. In nature, igneous rocks form when stone melts and solidifies, a process that can take millions of years. In ceramics, something similar happens in the kiln in a matter of days. I tend to say that ceramic processes are geology on speed," says Digernes.
He also draws parallels to metamorphic processes, in which rocks are transformed by pressure and temperature. In ceramics, a comparable transformation occurs during sintering, in which the particles in the clay bond together, making the material denser and stronger.
"Both ceramics and geology are built on many of the same minerals, including quartz, feldspar, and clay minerals. Still, in ceramics, you can control temperature and mixing conditions to shape the outcome," he adds.
Tactile and digital
The finished work will also have a digital dimension. In collaboration with video artist Marius Hokstad, digital water and an artificial sun will be projected onto the surface, casting subtle, slowly shifting shadows across the mosaic throughout the day, so that the piece looks different when staff arrive in the morning than when they leave in the evening.
"It will look as if slow water is flowing across the mosaic panels," says Digernes.
A text panel or QR code beside the work will allow visitors to learn the geological origin of each section. But first, the artwork has to go up on the wall at Campus Ullevål.
"Master mason and collaborator Halfdan Gimle will install and mount the piece. I asked him whether he'd like to do it in a suit, the way masons often dressed in the 1930s. He was more than happy to," Digernes concludes with a broad smile.
( Photo: Åsmund Holien Mo / Bow)
The art group for Campus Ullevål has been committed to ensuring that the art forms part of the building's overarching concept, while also contributing to a distinctive identity for the indoor public space. The group represents the owners Aspelin Reitan Eiendom and NGI:
- Anne Kibsgaard, Senior Advisor and Engineer at NGI
- Mette Schi, Property Manager for Campus Ullevål
- Grete Sivertsen, Communications Manager at Aspelin Reitan Eiendom
- Siri Anita Steinbakk, Managing Director of Campus Ullevål
An artwork that tells the story of NGI
Arnstein Aarset
Head of Section Rock Engineering Rock Engineering arnstein.aarset@ngi.no+47 976 00 103
