Dynamikk II

Dynamics, Arnold Haukeland’s large, eye-catching sculpture made of acid-resistant steel, was erected in 1966 along the waterfront Frognerstranda area in Oslo. Haukeland used many different materials, techniques, and expressions in his art, but he is probably most famous for his many monumental sculptures that adorn various locations throughout Norway.

Haukeland began his artistic training in Oslo, where he studied under Per Palle Storm and Stinius Fredriksen in 1944–45 at an underground art school founded during the German occupation. After the war he travelled to Paris and later to Denmark, Spain, Italy, and Greece. He initially focused on figurative art, but his trips abroad opened him up to new techniques that featured a more liberated modelling and broken, cubist forms. He became interested in art that conveyed dynamism and energy, and during the late 1950s and early 1960s his works became ever more modernist. This gave rise to a number of commissions: Air was placed at the University of Oslo in Blindern in 1962 as the first abstract monumental sculpture in Norway, before Dynamics saw the light of day four years later. The latter work was also made in smaller formats, and Dynamics II is a previous version. This work is also a welded piece made from steel, but it has moreover been painted red. The sculpture extends upwards and out into the room, like a bird on the verge of taking off; conveying a sense of great energy, it almost seems to rise weightlessly from the pedestal’s mooring. This is an innovative sculpture that clearly speaks “the language of the day”, a quality the artist himself much admired. Haukeland also voiced his opinions with clarity and vigour in public debates on art, and his works have been highly influential among later Norwegian sculptors.