The works of the Ocean Viking series are based on documentary photographs of the first Norwegian oil platform, which was manufactured at Aker Mechanical shipyard in 1966/67 in Oslo. The oil platform “Ocean Viking” is perpetuated and elevated on commemorative porcelain plates. These kind of plates have traditionally exposed events of national importance. Now they are used as a tribute to a memorable Norwegian industrial adventure. The images represent both nostalgia and a kind of industrial aesthetics, a testimony to Norwegian economic growth and welfare. But they also might be seen as a dystopian testimony pointing to the environmental consequences of this activity. The aim of Gunhild Vatn is to create an ambiguity that contributes to different interpretations of this work, and question the ideological hegemony that anchors the Norwegian prosperity and happiness to the continued extraction of oil in the North Sea.

In Remembrance is an installation with replicas of old advertising and propaganda posters. The posters have different origins, but in one way or another they are connected to oil, and they are aimed at the viewer as a consumer. In many of the posters, the car is used as a symbol of prosperity and happiness. Replicas of old Norwegian sardine labels are also included in the installation as a reference to the conflict between the fishery resources and the oil industry.

Gunhild Vatn (1969, Norway) is a ceramic artist who works in installations through sculptures. Her porcelain works often deal with political, social or gender issues inspired by objects that express a certain story either through their function or as an expression. Gunhild Vatn uses the porcelain works as the center to her artistic expression, having exhibited works at Norwegian and international museums and galleries.