Sandstorm

27.7.2019

In July 2019 Porin kulttuurisäätö collective is opening Sandstorm, a site-specific group exhibition. Located on the infamous Yyteri Beach, the exhibition aims both to question the concept of environmental and land art, as well as to create positive ecological impact on the already protected site. Despite all of the well-meaning practices art doesn’t only create aesthetical imprints but it often ends up producing excessive amounts of waste and other surplus material. In Sandstrom the collective continues its work in redefining art and its production, taking urgent ecological and environmental questions to the center of its practice and sustainable thinking into the creative process. While creating and mediating new knowledge art is a way of exploring possibilities for living among the new climate regime and the anxiety it causes. Through the project Porin kulttuurisäätö wants to make the unique Yyteri beach visible and accessible in a new way and suggest an alternative for how we use the fragile nature around us – while enjoying the beach!

Imported by de_nil
Square shaped hall torn open. Sand beneath my feet. Standing inside post-industrial stomach. Dust covered fragments fallen from the cracked ceiling. They rest as feathers buried in the beach sand. Concrete elements laying on their backs. Chests toward the open sky. Slots, curved shapes and straightness. Thousands of kilograms of weight awaiting for lifting and embracing. The sun burns their surface. In the walls the fragile wires descend to the floor until they are absorbed inside the polyurethane foam. I put my hand on the sticky substance. A sun-shining yellow cerebral cortex with lost information inside.
I walk out from the post-industrial stomach with a plastic object in my hand, which I think suits to Sandstorm exhibition. Sand, concrete, Brutalism… I’m lost. The starting points for my artistic work are in conflict with the nature of Yyteri.

 Imported by de_nil is the result of a situation where the resources of the artist studio have almost collapsed.
I have tried to use the material resources from my shelves as long as possible. Im distressed about the fact that
I have to buy new materials for producing an artwork. I collect, photograph and archive waste. By combining these elements I get new shapes. In Sandstrom exhibition I brought up artworks, which are composed of the surplus. Over the years I have dreamed of immaterial archive, which would only have images of my artworks. Some kind of platform where I could work without heavy facilities. For a moment I was happy on Instagram until I became aware of the destructive power of visual representation. All this needs fiber-optics, data centres, computing power, satellites, energy, water… I admire how the wind blows Yyteri’s sand into my artworks. Gradually they disappear, leaving indications of their potential existence. In the midst of all this, for some reason, I start to think of Nile and its importance. How water and other nature together gave birth to the vital black sludge on the Nile beaches. Floods and sludge together enabled a culture of cultivation. As a result, education and numerous empires were born. Black sludge, water, sand, imperium, information, fiber-optics, satellites, data centres, energy, art… I dig up my phone from my pocket, because I want to exist.

Imported by de_nil (2019)
Materials: inkjet print, fiberglass wallpaper, laser print on paper, aluminum cart, polycarbonate sheet,
newsprint, wood glue, spray paint, plastic pallet, wood, pencil, tape, painted steel, overhead projector film, fabric bag, velcro, cork, tray (additions: hoodie, stinging nettle)