Installation
Size: approximately 400 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm
Materials: Found branch of Scotch elm, spray paint
Year: 2017
About the work
I found a large branch of the Scotch elm tree in a park in Helsinki, where these old trees still exist. The Scotch Elms used to be planted in European city parks a lot, until they were found with an illness that makes them less popular nowadays called the dutch elm disease.
I carried the 4-meter long branch across the city to my workshop, cut the outward-growing extra branches from the core, refined and polished the shape that was thus revealed and to my eyes resembled that of a curve of diagrams. The curve of the branch made me think of it as a natural 3d visualization of the diagrams such as the ones depciting global wealth division. I painted the branch golden to illustrate the connotation, and to make a contrast between the golden color, often seen as valuable, and the origin of the wood that could be regarded as trash or of no value.
The branch was installed in the gallery space of Galleria Lapinlahti, in a room protected by National Board of Anitiquities with old torn wallpapers, in the corner, standing on its own without support, drawing a line from the ceiling to the floor.
This work was part of Altistuminen @Galleria Lapinlahti, Helsinki 1. – 18.6.2017, an exhibition with Azar Saiyar
