I first visited this place in 2021 during a 7 month COVID lock down. It was a cold grey day and my Google searches showed a desperate search for some sort of stimulus that came from outside my own head.
Outdoor attractions that were still open were becoming harder to locate and I was intrigued to find this only 15 mins from my apartment. It is maintained by KORO who are Norway´s national body responsible for art in public space. I became aware of this body when researching this sculpture and their existence may explain the almost compulsive collecting of outdoor sculptures in Norway.
Grass Roots Square is located on a side street between a car park and a road block. There’s no sign to indicate that there is anything of interest to see. No one else was visiting on the bleak lockdown day and I wondered if I was wasting time, however the closer I looked the more fascinated I became. There are thousands of individual bronze figures at pavement height in amongst the paving stones. Some hold slabs above their heads whilst others seem to cluster together for shelter. I soon found myself down on my hands and knees taking photographs and wondering about these little people.
The sculpture, created by Do Ho Suh in 2012, celebrates the power of grass roots movements. It is by coming down to the grass roots level that we can understand society. Do Ho Suh moves away from a traditional monumental and vertical sculpture motif towards a non monumental and horizontal form.
I found the installation powerful and moving, it’s pulled me back on several occasions but somehow it’s location, surrounded by office buildings, is always empty, grey and bleak whatever the time of year.
- https://koro.no/kunstverk/grass-roots-square/
- https://vartoslo.no/fredrik-qvale-grass-roots-square-kunst-i-offentlige-rom/de-sma-gronne-menneskene-ved-teatergata-blir-stadig-faerre/180209