Pink Stone Block for 26 Million Breaks Cultural Budget

Last Friday, the ”bLINK” was inaugurated at the Västlänken railway bridge at Olskroken in Gothenburg. The artwork was commissioned by the Swedish Transport Administration and the National Public Art Council and has cost taxpayers 25.9 million Swedish kronor. However, not everyone is entirely pleased with the investment.

On social media, the National Public Art Council announced that the pink stone block is the size of a three-story house and is a work by the German ”internationally active artist” Katharina Grosse. bLINK is part of the artistic design of Västlänken.

With bLINK, the artist Katharina invites the viewer to imagine a giant spotlight directing a pink beam of light towards the ground. All surfaces fictitiously hit by the beam are colored pink: railway bridge, lattice structure, ground surfaces, walkways, and bike paths. In the midst of the light, a gigantic stone, the size of a three-story house, appears to have landed on E6.

Furthermore, it is stated here that ”bLINK links time, movement, and space and adds something entirely unexpected and theatrical to the location”.

However, the National Public Art Council does not mention the cost, something that The Taxpayers’ Association found out: nearly 26 million of taxpayers’ kronor – a sum that also does not include installations that are not yet fully completed.

Of the total amount, the National Public Art Council finances 2.5 million and the remaining funds come from the Västlänken budget.

At the same time, it is noted that the sum exceeds the budget, which in 2016 was set at 32 million Swedish kronor for the artistic decoration in Västlänken and Olskroken.

70 million

When the figures and costs for all installations were requested, the total cost amounts to 70 million Swedish kronor:

Rainbow Snake: 32,200,000 SEK (projecting not yet completed)
bLink: 25,900,000 SEK (plus installations)
Korsvägen: 6,000,000 SEK
Tongue & Groove: 5,900,000 SEK

Tongue & Groove consists of furniture and stones around the Centralen station in Gothenburg, which according to the artist should help us ”understand migration and immigration at a deep level”.

Questioned

On Facebook, several people question the cost priority.

One of several notable comments reads:

”But seriously… why spend taxpayer money on this? Nothing wrong with the artwork, but is it respectful to those who pay taxes to use the money like this? How does it affect the willingness to pay the world’s highest taxes? At the same time, as welfare needs more resources…”

Another:

”The state should not finance art! Stop it. If art is good, the creators will make money from it, but if the art is bad, it will live on subsidies. That means the state will only contribute to bad art to a large extent. Saying it again STOP FINANCING ART WITH OUR TAX MONEY!!!”

And a third:

”The idea that one must buy art for municipal and state constructions for a certain part of the total cost should be prohibited, if one cannot make a living from their art without state or municipal money, it’s time to change jobs”