Norway is my home country.

Norwegians are very eager to tell you that their country is a beautiful place, and most Norwegians believe Norway to be perceived as an international "peacemaker".

The fact is that Norway is constantly at war, and the world's fourth largest exporter of military arms.

In the ongoing NATO operation in Libya, Norwegian fighter jets have carried out the most attacks of all nations involved.

Not bad for a small nation of only 5 million people that produces and exports nothing but oil, fish and arms.

As this is nothing near the behaviour of a "peacemaker", I hereby suggest a re-branding of Norway as: 

"THE WORLD'S SECOND GREATEST WAR NATION"

This way we can finally make use of our Viking inheritance and build a new image of Norway as the country to turn to if you need to remove any dictators you've first placed in power and now want to get rid of.

I've made the above collage "NEW CLEAR DAY" as an example of how this new Norwegian image could look - communicating strength and determination backed with real power.

A 81,5 x 49,5 cm print of the image will be put up for sale on eBay as part of the "SELLOUT"- series.

The auction opens at 1200 CET on Monday May 2nd, and is open until 1200 CET Monday the 9th of May 2011, and you can place your bids above the starting price of 50 USD at this link.

To coincide with this auction, the series "FREE ART" will also be released this week.

This means that full size prints of the pieces from the "SELLOUT"-series listed below will be mailed to the following institutions on Monday May 2nd:

SELLOUT#001 - "YEAR ZERO":

- The Norwegian Dept. of Finance (http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fin.html)

- The Astrup Fearnley Museum (http://afmuseet.no/)

- The Norwegian Central Bank (http://www.norges-bank.no/)

SELLOUT#003 - "GROUNDED":

- The Norwegian Dept. of Transport (http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/sd.html)

- The Tromsø Gallery of Contemporary Art (http://tromsokunstforening.no/)

- Scandinavian Airlines (http://www.sas.no/)

SELLOUT#008 - "NEW CLEAR DAY":

- The Norwegian Dept. of Defense (http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fd.html)

- The Norwegian National Gallery (http://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/no/visningssteder/museet_for_samtidskunst/)

- The Kongsberg Group (http://www.kongsberg.com/)