Publication ๐‘จ๐’“๐’„๐’‰๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ โ€˜๐’†๐’ ๐’‘๐’๐’†๐’Š๐’ ๐’‚๐’Š๐’“โ€™

2.12.2024

Sauli Sirviรถโ€™s new publication ๐‘จ๐’“๐’„๐’‰๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ โ€˜๐’†๐’ ๐’‘๐’๐’†๐’Š๐’ ๐’‚๐’Š๐’“โ€™ brings together projects and works created by Sirviรถ in Helsinki, Paris, and New York in recent years. The photographs and other visual materials are accompanied by a text by ๐— ๐—ถ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ ๐—›๐˜‚๐—ท๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ, sharing the same title as the book. This text delves into the vibrant world behind Sirviรถโ€™s works:

โ€™๐˜ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ชโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ (๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต) ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ. ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ชโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ. ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข. ๐˜Œ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ถ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ.โ€™

The publication is made up of pages printed on a variety of papers and other materials. The printing is handcrafted using inkjet and laser printing, as well as Helsinki sunlight burning.

The book is published in a limited edition of 100 copies and will be released in parallel with the duo exhibition ๐‘ณ๐’๐’˜๐’†๐’“ ๐’๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’ ๐’‰๐’Š๐’…๐’…๐’†๐’ ๐’“๐’๐’๐’Ž๐’” at SIC (30.11.2024โ€“19.1.2025) by ๐—˜๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ฉ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—น๐—ท๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ and Sauli Sirviรถ.

UTU 022 โ€ข ISBN 978-952-65274-4-4 โ€ข 50 pages โ€ข A4 โ€ข Printed and bound in Helsinki 2024โ€ข Edition of 100 copies.

๐‘จ๐’“๐’„๐’‰๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ โ€˜๐’†๐’ ๐’‘๐’๐’†๐’Š๐’ ๐’‚๐’Š๐’“โ€™ is supported by Kone Foundation, Arts Promotion Centre Finland and Niilo Helander Foundation

Solo exhibition An Odd Old Passageway at NSFW, Gothenburg, Sweden 25.5.-28.6.2024.

27.6.2024

An Odd Old Passageway at NSFW curated by Ida Lehtonen.

Exhibition text by the curator:

There is no such thing as an anachronism. Look inside your mind: does it contain only one era?[1] 

The hands of the clock have stopped at MAI. The doors to the sleeping cars have disappeared a long time ago, but the code of the key cards remains intact. In the exhibition An Odd Old Passageway by the Finnish artist Sauli Sirviรถ a palimpsest of images and found materials turn time into wax.[2]

Photographs are the ground of Sirviรถโ€™s work yet they donโ€™t aim just to point to a moment frozen in time. The places he visits and documents and the materials he collects from them materialise as images and objects that fluctuate between different layers of time. Sirviรถ searches for spaces in a liminal state: hidden, in ruins, out of function, some soon to be demolished and lost forever. Materials, details, forms, and experiences found in these sites become sculptures and installations in an instant of synchronicity.
Each piece follows its lifecycle with no absolute final form: sculptural components transform into new experiments or return to the hard infrastructure[3] to become new images and objects. In his latest work, Sirviรถ returns also to drawing. A book on the fire security of high-rise buildings[4] (High-Rise Security and Fire Life Safety by Geoff Craighead (2009), archival images from the Picture Collection,[5] among others, are drawn copies, copies of copies, that transcend the documentary and turn into fiction. [6]

In An Odd Old Passageway the past, the present, and the future cross paths in three metropolitan areas: in the utopia of Noisyle-Grand,[7] the mega infrastructure projects of Pasila,[8] and New Yorkโ€™s high โ€œcathedrals of commerceโ€. [9] The ruins and the subterranean caches look skywards: the urban wastelands of old industrial areas and waterfronts are being disposed of at an accelerating pace making way for future high-rise buildings. Skyscrapers[10] have taken root deep down in the ground, but permanence is always fleeting. There will always be new ruins.[11]

โ€œThat is what fascinates me about my sculptures, that they are really fragile, they are flaking all the time. However, that fragility can also be seen in the skyscrapers, it can be seen everywhere: it repeats the reality we are inโ€.[12]

Aluminium, paper, silver, fibreglass, egg cartons, plastic, pencil, soil, plaster: the materials in Sirviรถโ€™s installations and sculptures are organic, fragile, sometimes prone to mould, or on the other hand, toxic, even aggressive. โ€œI like the chaotic side of it, I like being in trouble with my materials. You never know what will happenโ€, he laughs as we talk on Zoom. Chaos makes following the materials a natural part of the process. The materials reflect the ephemerality, oddness, and hazards in the places.

โ€œIf you think of the city as a sculpture, then we are like inside a sculpture where things happen all the time. Houses flake, the sun corrodes their surfaces, and people produce information on papers that are shredded, some of it is secret, and it can be found on the streets. People come from outside of New York, along the ring roads, they flake and drop stuff, throwing things out of the car windows. I try to collect all that debris around me and figure out how it got thereโ€.[13]

There is a duality to Sauli Sirviรถโ€™s practice. Control and chaos, relics and waste, archival practices and vanishing information, preserving and destroying alternate in our conversations leading to the exhibition. Sirviรถ compares his work to archaeological excavations. At the same time, he uses the Finnish word louhinta, mining or extraction of sourcing materials for his work. Semantically, mining can refer to the โ€œextraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earthโ€,[14]
but also to searching through information for specific data or patterns.[15] The materials he extracts are not rare earth minerals as such, but rather debris, soil, and discarded everyday items and materials. The materials always embody information but where the modern archaeologist might build a narrative around the finds,[16] Sirviรถ follows the material to disjoint us, leaving the temporal dots unconnected. The work is dense in memories, but it is in the nature of memory to blur, change, and take new forms over time.[17] However, even when the images are obfuscated, dim, fragmentary, or only indicative of the original image, they always reveal something to us. Documenting the liminal places is a way to go back in time and remember them even after they are gone.[18] In itself, it is an act against the capitalist objective of forgetting.

Philosopher Tere Vadรฉn writes: Only in the landfill or on the waves of the sea will the true raw material of the capitalist product ideal be revealed: a universal shred that can be anything. It could have been anything and it could become anything.[19]

[1] Anne Carson in conversation with Niko Hallikainen. (2024, May 1)

โ€œSuuri kirjallinen arvoitusโ€. Helsingin Sanomat. https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/

art-2000010386231.html Quote translated from the interview. โ€œSellaista asiaa kuin anakronismi ei ole olemassa. Katso omaan mieleesi: sisรคltรครคkรถ se vain yhden aikakauden?โ€

[2] In the short story โ€œAjan huoneโ€ the character Donna Quijote describes

time as wax. From Krohn, L. (1983) Donna Quijote ja muita kaupunkilaisia.

WSOY. โ€œAika on ainetta, erรครคnlaista vahaa.โ€

[3] See for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_infrastructure

[4] Sirviรถ, S. Zoom call, Sept 12, 2023. 01:22:39. โ€œSo I was walking down

the street, and saw that someone had dropped a book on the fire safety

of high-rise buildings. And the book was really carefully scrutinized, as

if someone had taken an exam in the subject. And then I was like, I want

to make a sculpture of that. I want to go inside it, look at those pages, and

collect the information. Itโ€™s been three days in the freezer now, because Iโ€™m

afraid of bedbugs. There was a dumpster next to the book when I found it.โ€

Translated from Finnish.

[5] Picture collection. https://www.nypl.org/about/divisions/wallachdivision/picture-collection

[6] Sirviรถ, S. Zoom call, Sept 12, 2023. 00:17:04.

[7] See for example: Tofani, F. (2024, Mar 13) โ€œPostmodernist architecture

in Noisy-le-Grand: Science fiction in the suburbs of Parisโ€. https://ftrc.blog/

architecture-in-noisy-le-grand

[8] See for example: Jรคrvinen, E., Kaarenoja, V. (2019, Feb 22)

โ€œMaailmanloppu on lรคhempรคnรค kuin uskotkaan. Sen voi ymmรคrtรครค,

jos kiipeรครค korkealle kalliolle Helsingin Pasilassa ja osaa katsoa oikeinโ€.

Suomen Kuvalehti. https://suomenkuvalehti.fi/kotimaa/maailmanloppuon-lahempana-kuin-uskotkaan-sen-voi-ymmartaa-jos-kiipeaa-korkeallekalliolle-helsingin-pasilassa/?shared=1063835-b2acb5c6-1 โ€œOne million tonnes of earth was removed to build the high-rise towers of the โ€œmega

hybrid construction projectโ€ Tripla shopping mall in Pasila, in Helsinki.

[9] The term was first used of the Woolworth building. See for example:

Sutton, P. (2013, April 22) โ€œThe Woolworth Buildingโ€. https://www.nypl.org/

blog/2013/04/22/woolworth-building-cathedral-commerce

[10] A literal translation of the Finnish word for a skyscraper, pilvenpiirtรคjรค,

could be a cloud drawer or drawer of the clouds.

[11] Sirviรถ, S. Zoom call, Sept 12, 2023. 00:22:10.

[12] Sirviรถ, S. Zoom call, Sept 12, 2023. 00:05:30. Translated from Finnish.

[13] Sirviรถ, S. Zoom call, Sept 12, 2023. 00:58:34. Translated from Finnish

[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining

[15] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mining

[16] See for example: Fennelly, K. (2023). โ€œArchaeology, Emotional

Storytelling, and Performanceโ€. Public Archaeology, 1โ€“15.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14655187.2022.2149683

[17] Koskinen, P. (2024, April 26) โ€œKaikki tieto ei mahdu aivoihin โ€“ emmekรค

pรครคtรค itse, mitรค muistiin tallennetaanโ€. Yle tiedeykkรถnen.

https://areena.yle.fi/podcastit/1-68342556 In the program docent Tarja

Stenberg talks about how memory is often thought to โ€œbe as accurate as the

hard drive of a computer, but nothing could be further away from the truthโ€.

[18] Sirviรถ, S. Zoom call, Sept 12, 2023. 00:59:15

[19] Vadรฉn, T. (2010) Kaksijalkainen ympรคristรถvallankumous โ€“ Pamfletti

synnyistรค. Osuuskunta Rohkean reunaan. Quote translated from the Finnish

original by Lehtonen, I. โ€œVasta kaatopaikalla tai meren aalloilla paljastuu

kapitalistisen tuoteihanteen todellinen raaka-aine: universaali silppu, joka

voi olla mitรค tahansa.โ€

The exhibition is supported by Kone Foundation and Nordic Culture Point

An Odd Old Passagewayย (2024) inkjet print on door hanger (found in NYC)

Blueprint I (2008-2024) mixed media

Blueprint II (2008-2024) mixed media

Blueprint III (2008-2024) mixed media

Hand II III (2024) laser print on fiberglass, tin, copper / Blueprint I II III (2008-2024) mixed media

Hand I II (2024) laser print on fiberglass, tin, copper

Hand III (2024) laser print on fiberglass, tin, copper

Towers (2024) paper, pencil, wood, metal, laser print on fiberglass / Sync (2023) fiberglass, metal, spray paint

Towers (2024) paper, pencil, wood, metal, laser print on fiberglass

Towers (2024) paper, pencil, wood, metal, laser print on fiberglass

Hand I (2024) laser print on fiberglass, tin, copper

Weal (2024) tin, copper