Rar benk, Sculpture in Sentrum, Oslo, Norway
Rar benk is a steel sculpture in the Princess Ingrid Alexandra Sculpture Park within Oslo's Palace Park. It is made of six bright blue cuboid blocks set on a dark metal grid, with flat tops that act as seats and one L-shaped section forming a bench.
The sculpture was created by August Kristoffer Mortensen and installed in 2019 as one of the final additions to the children's sculpture park. The park itself began in 2016 and grew over several years with new works chosen from children's drawings.
The bench belongs to a sculpture park opened for Princess Ingrid Alexandra in 2016, with works chosen through a nationwide children's drawing competition. Sitting or climbing on these blue blocks shows how the park invites children to treat art as something to touch and use, not just look at.
Find this work in the northeastern part of the Palace Park, where grassy areas and dirt paths surround the metal platform. It sits low to the ground, so watch your step when the light is dim or the grid is partly hidden by grass.
Unlike most public art, this piece is meant to be sat on, climbed over, or rearranged mentally as a giant play object. Its name, which means 'strange bench' in Norwegian, points to the fact that what looks like furniture is actually a steel artwork in a royal park.
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