Suomeksi
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The
project dates back to the 1980's when Pinsiö's local residents asked
the artist Osmo Rauhala to help them with fixing an old gravel pit
that was spoiling the landscape.
Action
was taken quickly, and a committee to solve the matter was created;
it was the first time that in Finland, artists were directly asked to
solve environmental problems.
Nancy
Holt and Agnes Denes were part of the committee, and last week the
class visited Deneses “Tree Mountain” and Holt's “Up and
Under”.
Deneses
work, “Tree mountain” is site specific, and it's an example of
cooperative art. Some 10.600 people planted a tree, which they will
own for life. It is not allowed to sell the tree; it can, however,be
left as a heirloom upon death.
The
concept of “ownership” of a tree is a very subtle one, as the
tree can never really be owned, being part of a forest and firmly
rooted to its spot-the owners don't really possess the tree in a
physical way, but they have a sort of moral obligation towards the
forest and what it represents.
As the
trees grow, the mountain slightly changes its shape and appearance,
and eventually the trees will outlive all the original creators and
custodians, and probably they'll even be there when the whole
project and the whole philosophy behind it will be totally forgotten.
The road
between “Tree Mountain” and “Up and Under” was supposed to be
an easy 3km walk.
What
actually happened, is that our happy little group in between chatters
and laughters got almost completely lost, ending up in Pinsiö model
airport(lennokkikenttä).
As art
students, we lived up well to our stereotype. Far from being anywhere
close to despair, everybody just enjoyed the adventure and started
making artworks and photos, as if the fact of being lost in a fairly
deep forest was nowhere nearly as important as making up new
artworks.
After
more walking, the group finally found some signs of civilization(and
some ice-cream).
Eventually
we made it to “Up and Under” where few classmates had already set
up a fire, and we grilled some sausages and had a little rest from
the two and more hours of walking.
“Up
and Under”, created by Nancy Holt, is built to specifically follow
the light and shadows of the site.
It is
formed by seven tunnels(four of which are aligned east-west and three
north-south, following Polarises orientation)and three pools(one of
which was empty, alas).
One can
experience the sculpture from different point of views: from under
the tunnel, up the top,over the pathway or even from afar.
The sky
is part of the piece itself, because it reflects in the pools, is
clearly visible from the horizontal tunnels and can be also seen from
the vertical tunnel.
In this
artwork, earth, light and the sky are all one, and can all be
experienced at once.
In the
artist's concept, the artwork could also function as a gathering
place for the population, making it a key element into town life.
Text
and photos: Lavinia Colzani, Fine Arts.
