Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway, 2007

I love art and enjoy going to museums -- and as a New Yorker, have plenty of opportunites to see interesting exhibits. One of my favorite "museums," though was Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo, Norway. When Jon first suggested that we walk to Vigeland Park because there were sculptures there, I wasn't really in the mood to go. It was late, we'd just finished dinner and it was about a three mile trek to the park. He insisted, though, and I tagged along, grumbling the whole time about how it would be better if we went to this park during the daytime. By the time we got there, the sun was setting and the park was virtually empty. Again, I wasn't thrilled, thinking that this was rather creepy. But we then entered and I was blown away. The park is filled with hundreds of sculptures by Gustav Vigeland and is an outdoor museum of his work. All of the statues are naked (I feel the need to stress this because I recommended the park to a conservative friend and she was shocked when she arrived) and are in lifelike poses that reflect movement. There are people embracing, babies crying, a man flipping a woman over his shoulders, kids playing, and my favorite -- a man turning as kids hang off of his arms and legs as if they're in mid-flight. I nicknamed it "Man Flinging Babies." Anyway, the statues are organized so that they tell the story of life from birth to death and Vigeland managed to capture every emotion that one would experience during a lifetime from joy to pain to sorrow. His sculptures look so *real* it's as if the figures were frozen in time. I half expected them to come out of their poses and jump out at me. Here are some of the statues, including "Man Flinging Babies":

Being there at night by ourselves *was* a little unsettling, but it gave us the chance to carefully examine each statue. I walked around, liking one figure more than the next and truly appreciated how Vigeland was telling a story with his pieces. We returned the next day during the afternoon, but it just wasn't quite the same. The place was filled with tourists so every statue had people posing in front for pictures. It was still incredible, but the park didn't have that intimate feel that it had the night before. I'm glad that Jon persuaded me to go to Vigeland Park at night because it's an experience that has stayed with me.