Solo exhibition Woodsmoke at K17 – SPACE FOR ART AND ECOLOGY, Sipoo, Finland May 18th – June 19th 2025

27.5.2025

I felt like I was recording the future.
–Svetlana Alexievich

950 km.
This route includes a ferry.
This route crosses through Åland.
This route has restricted usage or private roads.
Your destination is in a different time zone.

I have never been here. I read somewhere that the building is the greenhouse of the former Nikkilä psychiatric hospital. I’m looking at the place from further away. I can see the roofless ruin of the greenhouse. Moss and grass are growing from its floor. I walk closer to the main building and look inside through the blue pipes. I step in.
Spring smells of smoke.

Three rooms, a finished apparatus at the end.

In April 2024, I talk to Sauli on the phone and write down: For Sirviö, searching for materials is mining, and the places where materials are found are mining sites.

In February 1896, the French physicist Henri Becquerel’s experiments with uranium salts materialise radioactivity into a photograph. The radiation, invisible to the human eye, leaves two dark traces on a photographic glass plate.

In February 2025, me and Sauli talk on the phone about agents, logistics, numbers, smuggled Soviet helicopters. Materials spill into the conversation.

In April 1986, the town of Pripyat prepares for labor day celebrations. 1516 kilometres away, I sit on the ground and put sand in my mouth.

Three rooms, a finished apparatus at the end.

There is an open box on the floor. I can smell the trace on the glass. Maybe there’s a faint hum somewhere. I look out through the pipes.

Text by Ida Lehtonen

K17 – SPACE FOR ART AND ECOLOGY

The exhibition has been supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland

Troy ounce 2025 inkjet print on wallpaper, wallpaper paste, etching on glass, graphite, wooden frames 1896 2025 paper, plaster, aluminum, soil, parts of the shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over) 1661 2025 inkjet print on wallpaper, wallpaper paste, etching on glass, graphite, wooden frames

1896 2025 paper, plaster, aluminum, soil, parts of the shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over)

1661 2025 inkjet print on wallpaper, wallpaper paste, etching on glass, graphite, wooden frames

Non 2025 inkjet print on wallpaper, wallpaper paste, etching on glass, graphite, wooden frames

Non 2025 inkjet print on wallpaper, wallpaper paste, etching on glass, graphite, wooden frames 1125 2025 painted steel (found in Turku 2019), fiberglass (found in Helsinki 2020), plexiglass, passepartout, gelatin silver print, part of a shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over) Parcel 2025 partially charred wooden part of a shipping crate (shipment between Istanbul and Helsinki 2008), mesh bag (found in Raisio 2025), inkjet print on envelope (found in Rovaniemi 2019), holder (found in Raisio 2025)

A detail of 1125 2025 painted steel (found in Turku 2019), fiberglass (found in Helsinki 2020), plexiglass, passepartout, gelatin silver print, part of a shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over)

Re 2025 inkjet print on paper, pins, wooden part of a shipping crate (shipment between Istanbul and Helsinki 2008), parts of the shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over)

A detail of Re 2025 inkjet print on paper, pins, wooden part of a shipping crate (shipment between Istanbul and Helsinki 2008), parts of the shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over)

Sininen 2025 wooden shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over), wood, inkjet print on fiberglass wallpaper, tin, copper, ceramic (found in Paris, Noisy-le-Grand 2022), gelatin silver print, passepartout, plexiglass, steel pedestal, paper, plaster, aluminum, soil Parcel II 2025 partially charred wooden part of a shipping crate (shipment between Istanbul and Helsinki 2008), mesh bag (found in Raisio 2025), inkjet print on envelope (found in Rovaniemi 2019), holder (found in Raisio 2025)

Parcel II 2025 partially charred wooden part of a shipping crate (shipment between Istanbul and Helsinki 2008), mesh bag (found in Raisio 2025), inkjet print on envelope (found in Rovaniemi 2019), holder (found in Raisio 2025)

Cog 2025 paper, plaster, aluminum, soil, painted steel (found in Turku 2019), safety belt (found in Hyvinkää 2029), steel pedestal

Punainen 2025 wooden shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over), wood, inkjet print onfiberglass wallpaper, tin, copper, ceramic (found in Paris, Noisy-le-Grand 2022), gelatin silver print, passepartout, plexiglass, rubber parts (found in Raisio 2025), spray paint Cog 2025 paper, plaster, aluminum, soil, painted steel (found in Turku 2019), safety belt (found in Hyvinkää 2029), steel pedestal Sininen 2025 wooden shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over), wood, inkjet print on fiberglass wallpaper, tin, copper, ceramic (found in Paris, Noisy-le-Grand 2022), gelatin silver print, passepartout, plexiglass, steel pedestal, paper, plaster, aluminum, soil Parcel II 2025 partially charred wooden part of a shipping crate (shipment between Istanbul and Helsinki 2008), mesh bag (found in Raisio 2025), inkjet print on envelope (found in Rovaniemi 2019), holder (found in Raisio 2025)

A detail of 831 hum (within them burned just not uranium but time itself) 2025 inkjet print on wallpaper, wallpaper paste, etching on glass, graphite, wooden frames

Exit III 2025 paper, aluminum, soil, rubber part (found in Raisio 2025), holder (found in Raisio 2025), soap, vegetable oil, ceramic (found in Paris, Noisy-le-Grand 2022), Lambda print on Dibond, spray paint, varnish, plastic creeper, metal pipes on a doorway

Parcel III 2025 partially charred wooden part of a shipping crate (shipment between Istanbul and Helsinki 2008), mesh bag (found in Raisio 2025), inkjet print on envelope (found in Rovaniemi 2019), holder (found in Raisio 2025)

Anturit 2025 textile, plastic, parts of the shipping crate (traveled between several unknown locations. Labels painted over), holder (found in Raisio 2025)

950 kilometres (machines, they danced and swirled creating a mesmerising barrier of colors around the factory) 2025 inkjet print on wallpaper, wallpaper paste, etching on glass, graphite, wooden frames Exit III 2025 paper, aluminum, soil, rubber part (found in Raisio 2025), holder (found in Raisio 2025), soap, vegetable oil, ceramic (found in Paris, Noisy-le-Grand 2022), Lambda print on Dibond, spray paint, varnish, plastic creeper, metal pipes on a doorway