There are a lot of things to do in airports while you wait for your flight. My personal favorite is to nap (shout-out to you JetBlue napping pods at JFK Terminal 5!) but other options include shopping for bedazzled key rings and baseball caps, eating a second breakfast and—a perennial favorite—stalking electrical outlets to charge a phone.
For travelers looking for a more cultural activity to while away the time between flights, many airports now have art installations. As well as “Slipstream,” a massive steel sculpture created by British artist Robert Wilson hanging in Terminal 2, Heathrow Airport actually has a fine art gallery with changing artists and exhibitions that the public can visit in Terminal 5. “Every Beating Second,” by Janet Echelman, is a series of moving wire mesh sculptures inside San Francisco’s Terminal 2 that evoke a soothing outside breeze, and “Kinetic Rain” in Changi International Airport in Singapore, is a mesmerizing continuous flow of shiny metal rain drops which was the largest kinetic sculpture in the world when it was installed in 2012.
The latest fine art venture is coming to Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport and is a little less soothing. Beginning this December, the http://munchmuseet.no/en/ is partnering with the airport’s owner to display original Edvard Munch works in rotation over the next 10 years. While “The Scream” paintings with their turbulent clouds and horrified protagonist may not be the artwork flyers most want to see before takeoff, it’s good to know there is a cultural experience on offer when the key ring shopping is taken care of.
