Photographs by Vibeke Tandberg

Statsbygg has bought several properties in Møllergata in connection with the construction of the new Government Building Complex.

Amidst all the construction work, we want to give something back to passersby. Until the summer we are displaying four photographs by the artist, photographer and author Vibeke Tandberg (b. 1967) from the series Old Man Cowboy in the windows of Møllergata 13b.

Old Man Cowboy is a series of photographs featuring a cowboy on horseback, which is actually the artist herself wearing a mask to make her look like an old man.

Old Man is a recurring figure in Tandberg’s work. She debuted the mask in 2003 in the photographic and video piece Old Man Going Up and Down a Staircase.

Vibeke Tandberg’s artwork has been purchased by the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, among others.

Statsbygg is the Norwegian government’s building commissioner, property manager and developer. We also advise the government in construction and property affairs.

Vibeke Tandberg on Old Man Cowboy:

“I bought a taxidermized horse in 2022. Once I had completed the work The Horse Archive, which featured plaster casts of the taxidermized horse, I started photographing it. The Old Man Cowboy series came about as a result of the need to give the horse a rider. The Old Man mask brought the horse to life, and the horse brought the mask to life.”

“Historically, cowboys are the archetypal American freedom fighter and rebel: both anti-hero and idol, both outlaw and keeper of the law. The photographs show a cowboy dressed up in full western regalia with an empty lasso riding a dead horse – a kind of Don Quixote completely wrapped up in his own worldview”.