VANNMONOPOL – The Water Monopoly
Water Monopoly – Inverted miracles – Tjook 2012 til 2024
In 2012, artist Tjook unveiled his provocative artwork “Water Monopoly” during the water-themed exhibition at Fet Church. This piece explored the intricate relationship between humans and natural resources through compelling symbolism, including white wine bottles and Norwegian gooseberry branches. Referencing the biblical miracle where Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana, Tjook’s work offers a modern critique by inverting this miracle—transforming wine back into water. This artistic reversal highlights Tjook’s commentary on Norway’s state-controlled alcohol distribution system, Vinmonopolet, and emphasizes his belief that while the state should not monopolize wine, it should indeed control clean water.
Fast forward to 2024, and “Water Monopoly” makes a significant return, this time at the esteemed Gamle Munch Museum. The reimagined installation features 16 white wine bottles arranged in a glass case measuring 37 x 37 x 37 cm. Each bottle contains a Norwegian gooseberry branch and a mix of water and wine from the original 2012 exhibition, bottled by the artist himself. These bottles are labeled with Tjook’s custom-designed Vannmonopol logo, a direct nod to the branding of Norway’s Vinmonopolet.
The Water Monopoly Art installation (2012)
VANNMONOPOL was specially made for a Norwegian church exhibition with the theme “water” as part of the cultural activities og the 2012 Culture Week in Fetsund. The exhibition period from 26.10 to 04.11 in 2012
The installation serves as an intermediary experience between the following contextual references:
- Locality Fetsund Church. At the time Norway still has one state church
- The state-controlled alcohol distribution through Vinmonopolet (wine monopoly)
- The attempts to control the world’s freshwater (water monopoly)
- And the first wonder by Jezus at the wedding at Cana
Bottles and screen
The central part of the installation of Water Monopoly (a prototype) consists of 25 bottles of clear glass. 16 bottles are filled with clear water—9 bottles containing more reddish transparent fluid. The bottles are labeled with a Water Monopoly logo. All bottles also contain a Norwegian thorny gooseberry branch. The bottles are placed in a rectangle on a glass plate on a TV screen. The red bottles are positioned like a cross. The TV screen is hidden in a white square box with the Water Monopoly logo and name on the sides and a white cloth covering the top with an opening for the TV screen. The base is a slice of the trunk of an old birch tree that has been in the forest for many years. Overall size 55B x 55L x 113H CM
Video and audio:
The TV screen shows a video loop with blue water images and sounds from a local stream with a white Water Monopoly logo. Halfway through the loop comes some shorter more red video images and brief audio fragments from Handel, palpitations, and Jewish wedding music as a reference to the wedding at Cana(John 2)
”This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him…”