Accessibility in SOLO OSLO – Apichaya Wanthiang

Dimensions
The exhibition hall on the 10th floor is 13 times 20 meters long, with a ceiling height of eight meters. The back wall slopes inwards because we find ourselves in the characteristic «angle» —a part of the museum’s architecture.

Tactile model
Right to the left of the entrance, one finds two pedestals with tactile 3D models of the exhibition space. The models are produced in the size 1:100. By touching, and looking at, them, visitors can get an impression of how elements are placed in the room, and get an overview of the entire exhibition hall. Between the two pedestals hangs a piece of colored agar, the material the artist has used in the sculptures in the exhibition. Visitors are welcome to touch this sample. On each pedestal, one can retrieve information in Braille, as well as a QR code to scan with a phone or tablet. Scanning the code will lead you to this page.

The entrance
At the entrance, one walks to the right, through a narrow hallway that leads into the exhibition. In the hallway the walls are painted black and the light is dimmed. 

Materials, colours and placements
Inside the exhibition hall, the floor is covered with a light grey or beige woolen carpet. This carpet also continues 1,2 meters up onto the walls. The rest of the walls are painted in a slightly brighter shade of the same colour. 16 steel frames are placed around the room (we recommend conferring with the 3D model or the map). A sheet of semi-transparent agar is stretched over each frame, like a membrane. Agar is made from algae, has a gel-like consistency, and can resemble skin. The membranes are coloured in red and blue-green tones. They are lit up from below by 14 light bars placed on the floor in front and behind the sculptures. Visitors are welcome to move freely between the sculptures in the room.

Due to the fragile material, the sculptures are not meant to be touched.

SOME BODY ELSE

‘This is a story about different women… It is part ode, part meditation, part exorcism’.

Building on her research into the effects of trauma, Apichaya Wanthiang likens the feeling of her installation to entering another body. The space has two distinct atmospheres, created by sculptures draped with agar sheets in different colours and pulsating lights. Wanthiang is interested in how physical sensations are transmitted from one body to another as a different form of communication. In that sense, the skin is not a boundary to the world but a membrane that interacts with its environment and the people in it.

Apichaya Wanthiang (b. 1987, Bangkok) works in a range of different mediums through which she explores how environments influence our perceptions, behaviours, and interactions.

In her mediation project, Frida Rusnak (b. 1987, Sandefjord) has worked with blind and visually impaired people to explore how art can become more accessible to this group.

This is the second edition of SOLO OSLO, a series of solo exhibitions and mediation projects by Oslo-based practitioners, supported by Talent Norge and Canica.

In the entrance area, the lighting is dimmed. The exhibition hall has dark lighting, with sources of light pulsating at different speeds and temperatures. The lighting comes from 14 different light bars placed on the floor, with light coming through the sculptures.

The lighting comes from 14 different light bars placed on the floor, with light coming through the sculptures.

Inside the exhibition hall, one can hear a 3 minutes long looping soundtrack. The sound is played from four speakers which are placed high up in the center of the two longest walls, in pairs. 

The speakers are placed at an angle, back to back, creating two zones with the most clear sound.

Every Wednesday in October we give short introductions for blind and visually impaired people outside the exhibition. 

The intros are free and open for all visitors. 

Read more about the introduction and get you tickets here

Outside the exhibition hall on the 10th floor, there will be benches with backrests.

There is no seating inside the exhibition hall.

Companions receive a free entrance ticket which can be retrieved digitally. A proof of companionship must be presented upon arrival.

You can retrieve the ticket here

One finds toilets, including HC-toilets , in the lobby cloakroom, as well as on floor 3, 6, 12 and 13.

If you have questions regarding accessibility, please contact booking@munchmuseet.no

Read more about accessibility at MUNCH