Can artistic expertise improve commercial value?

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has financed a one-year research project in which SINTEF researchers have been studying whether collaboration with an artist can improve conditions within a company. Until now, sponsorship has been the most usual form of collaboration, rather than suggesting models for cooperation and added value. The project report offers twelve examples of successful collaboration.

Boen Parkett in Risør asked artists to design a unique and environmentally appropriate timber floor for its product range. A percussionist composed a work that includes the sounds of rubbish being emptied by Bergen’s waste collection department, which uses the “music” in its self-profile. The photo shows a wall of material collected from a boatshed, which car mechanics in the Lie group of companies used to create a work of art.