Update

Due to some unexpected technical difficulties and hard decisions made by me as an artist, this project is right now on halt. By this letter, I want to give some insight on what circumstances that unfortunately led this project to go on hold. 

As a big project, I’ve naturally faced a lot of various sized issues during the making process of this artwork. I was able to resolve many of the problems, but there was one main technical issue that I couldn’t work around. This led to a difficult decision regarding the public artwork, and I feel like it is important for me to explain the decisions which were made and my role as an artist in this matter. Hopefully you as a reader and/or kind participant in this particular artwork will understand my thought process, and maybe even agree with the decisions I’ve made.

What was the idea?
The idea was to install ca. 450 concrete plates on a concrete wall, placed in a backyard alley at Elimäenkatu. There were a lot of different options on how to install the plates onto the wall, but I concluded together with experienced artists and people in the construction field, that the best and durable suggestion was to mount the plates with the help of a rod protruding out from the back of the plate, into a drilled hole in the wall. At this stage of the project, me and my project advisors were confident that a concrete wall would be able to endure such treatment.

So, what was the main technical issue?
The main issue with this wall was its old age and unknown quality of the concrete. The wall in question, is a remnant from an earlier existing concrete factory which was active during the 1950’s. Even though there’s some history to be read about the concrete factory itself, there’s little known information about this specific wall. For that reason there’s no exact date of when and how it’s made, and therefore the quality of the wall itself. But according to old maps of the cityblock, the wall was probably made sometime between 1950-1960’s. 

Now, due to the old age and the unknown quality of the wall where the project was initially planned to be installed, the plan of drilling 450 holes into the wall to mount the plates was worrying, to say at least. As I wrote earlier, in the beginning I thought for sure that a concrete wall would be strong enough to be drilled into ca 450 times. But it later came to our knowledge that because of the old age of the concrete, and some visible signs of bad structure in the wall, drilling 450 holes was no more an option. The risk of the wall unexpectedly breaking was far too great.

At this point I tried to find other options(mortar, industrial glue etc.) for installing the work. But none of them were viable because of the harsh weather conditions in Finland. According to experts the plates would probably break off and fall down the first winter if there wasn’t something structurally supporting the plates to the wall, like a rod.

This realisation eventually led to the disappointing conclusion that there’s nothing to be done and the artwork is simply not possible to complete at this specific site. 

But, this was not the end of it. Newsec were still interested in buying this specific artwork and gave me a new option. They suggested that the work would instead be moved inside the building at Elimäenkatu and be installed in the main entrance lobby. But because ca 450 concrete plates wouldn’t fit in the entrance lobby alone, the remaining plates would therefore be spread around the building floors. 

Now I had some new decisions to make.
So, to explain my decision I’ll first explain my thoughts about the artwork itself.

This artwork is interesting on a variety of different levels, but in an effort to keep this message as short as possible, I’ll only discuss one specific aspect of it which was a relevant part of my thought process, and in the end, the decisive factor. 

A part of the idea with this particular artwork was to exhibit and explore the diversity and similarities in our thoughts as a society. I hoped that these thoughts, that were privately marked on a small sticky note, made only for the authors eyes, would in a bigger picture show what we, as humans, think matters the most today. In other words, I hoped that the content would reflect some sort of a hive mind, and by exhibiting the concrete plates, the observer of the public artwork would be able to explore the direction of these collective thoughts. 

Now, with this concept in mind, I tried to imagine how the artwork would behave in an environment like the suggested entrance lobby at Elimäenkatu. 

I immediately saw this as a challenge. And luckily for me, I do not fear challenges. Quite the opposite! Those who’re familiar with my artistic practice, know I work with unconventional methods and that I try to see opportunities in the new and unexpected. (Including in the uncomfortable truth when things does not go as planned) 

Therefore I was not faced by the thought of adjusting my point of view and unexpectedly move a site specific work elsewhere. Usually there’s something interesting happening with the artwork when moving it to a new environment, which then brings the discussion of the subject matter into a new direction. 

But, taking this specific artwork inside meant two things. One, the collection would be inaccessible to the public outside of the building’s opening hours. And two, the collection would be separated and spread around the whole building, as a suggested solution to the problem that 450 concrete plates simply doesn’t fit in the lobby alone. 

The first issue might be a matter of taste, but I see the content I’ve collected as something that belongs to all people. Mainly because it’s from them I’ve collected the content from, but also because of the idea of bringing other people’s thoughts inside a building, that isn’t accessible to those who contributed to the work, feels wrong. The content I’ve gathered is sensitive in its nature, and I want to respect that the people who contributed to this work did so with the belief to share it on a surface where everyone, even themselves or their recipient, could access it. 

The second issue, to spread the plates between the floors, is more problematic. Not only does this elevate the first problem further, but it also separates the plates from each other. Now this might be a strange thing to highlight, due to my own suggestion to separate some of the plates outside as well. But the key here is the amount of plates which would be separated. By keeping the majority of the plates in a close proximity to each other (and in a large number) helps the observer to be able to read the “hive mind” of the work. By separating the majority of the plates from each other, on different floors in the building, breaks the collection and produces a distance in the artwork that directly counteracts the concept. 

Now, as I wrote earlier, I tried to figure things out and to solve these problems. But all the possible solutions I came up with challenges the core of this artwork. Meaning, if I would produce any of the other possible solutions, this artwork would no longer be the same. 

For these reasons, and in an effort to keep the integrity of this specific artwork, I took the decision to not install this artwork inside of the suggested placement. I felt like it wouldn’t do the artwork justice, and any other versions of it would be a pale comparison to what it could be. 

Now, with all this said, I want to highlight and thank Newsec for the opportunity that they have given me, even if it didn’t come to fruition with a final artwork. It means a great deal for a student in fine arts, that there’s people outside of our little sphere who take interest in our works and are willing to transform the ideas into reality. Hopefully these kind of opportunities will happen again and that the next project will have a more successful outcome. 

And you, who kindly participated in this specific artwork, fear not! There’s still possibilities that this artwork is going to be made. The only thing that this unfortunate hiccup means, is that it’ll be made a bit later than previously planned and in a different location. I am still committed to make this particular work happen.  The only thing I ask for is patience!

Until next time, thank you all, be well and stay safe!

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This project is about a public artwork that is going to be made during the autumn of 2020. 

The artwork is going to be a permanent wall of notes, where people from all over the world would share things they need to remember and what they think others should be reminded of.

This project is made possible through the collaboration between Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki and Newsec.