Kaikki nuoret tyypit / all the young dudes, 2020
Dinner table, ceramics: stoneware, glazes, ceramic decals, luster The work Kaikki nuoret tyypit / All the young dudes is an nostalgic homage to a public park situated in Helsinki, located between the Museum of contemporary art Kiasma and the Parliament House. The work takes place approximately in year 2005, when this park, titled “Kiasman nurtsi” (which translates to: “Kiasma’s lawn”) was a common place to hang out for young people: especially people identifying with different subcultures. The park had a unique group of users and was somewhat known throughout the country in the alternative scene. The landscape of the park slopes towards Helsinki Music Centre, and therefore the installation was built on a tilted dinner table. The installation consists of 17 ceramic tiles assembled to a formation that portrays young people spending a summers day in the park. Since the old railway warehouse next to the park burnt down in 2006, the area has cleaned up significantly and no longer serves as an unofficial meeting place – at least not in the manner it used to in the early 2000’s. As an artist I was interested in the development and documentation of the places young people find their own. These places often go undocumented, and every generation finds their own. As an artist I also find it an intriguing coincidence, that as a teenager, before all the art studies, I used to hang out directly outside of an art museum. There is something very beautiful and close to life about this space being used for spending time and enjoying life. A lot has changed in the landscape of the center of Helsinki since 2005. A lot has also changed about how we spend our time and how we document our lives. 15 years ago cell phones with cameras were a rarity, and many of the good lots in the very centre served as curious wasteland. Now the centre is filled with the city’s most important cultural spaces, and the possibility to document our lives is in every pocket. we have grown accustomed to these changes, although it has all happened in a little more than just a decade. At the same time many aspects about spending our free time have stayed the same. This work was a part of my MFA degree show installation held in Exhibition Laboratory, Helsinki, October 2020. Image credit: Veera Konsti.
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