What Money Can Buy

I got inspired by my previous project Narcos & Homes, in which I documented houses of Colombian drug lords “Narcos”, seized by the state. I started exploring images from the project within the three-dimensional plane which ended up in a sculpture. A gold dining table, ornamented with a sculpture in the centre, which is a replica of the classic statue The Rape of the Sabine Women, by the Flemish sculptor and architect Giambologna.

 The sculpture attempts to explore the use of the classical, and neoclassical aesthetics by “Narcos”, dictators and people with money as a symbol of social status. The location of the statue is ideal because of its resonance with the surrounding shops and luxurious boutiques mirroring wealthiness and the so-called “good taste”. This street of luxury shopping is relatively new in town evidencing the fast-growing Norwegian economy.

 During the period of my research on the houses and their owners, I discovered how the media had exaggerated the luxury and wealth of the confiscated properties and assets, reinforcing myths of marble bathrooms with golden faucets when they were actually made of copper and marble was made of plastic. This explains why the sculpture materials are epoxy, fiberglass, spray painted in gold and white imitating porcelain and pure gold.