Land of the Blue Mountain, 2022
The series Land of the Blue Mountain is a site-specific research which explores future economic and ecological possibilities based on man made behavior. The series was created on the Finnish island Mustikkamaa (Blueberryland), using scientific and artistic methods.
Soil science is a field of science that has been closely intertwined with social and economic issues for decades, a relationship that has deeply affected relevant research agendas. In modern history, soil has become an interdisciplinary field of science that is changing rapidly. Some of these changes are disrupting the traditional relationship with productions and are showing soil as a living world rather than a mere receptacle for economic production processes and political gain.
The series Land of the Blue Mountain is a site-specific research which explores future economic and ecological possibilities based on man made behavior. The series was created on the Finnish island Mustikkamaa (Blueberryland), using scientific and artistic methods.
Soil science is a field of science that has been closely intertwined with social and economic issues for decades, a relationship that has deeply affected relevant research agendas. In modern history, soil has become an interdisciplinary field of science that is changing rapidly. Some of these changes are disrupting the traditional relationship with productions and are showing soil as a living world rather than a mere receptacle for economic production processes and political gain.
Speculative configurations No.1: Green Imprints, 2022 Photographic print of microscopic image and chromatography on paper
42 cm x 29.7 cm
Green Imprint shows an image of the soil, examined more closely to detect signs of past life. The grain is contaminated with residual blue-green algae, caused by heavy blooms in summer that are typically known for causing the so-called Death Zones in the Baltic Sea and flourishes mainly due to agricultural pesticides seeping into the seawater. With the help of the current, the killer bacteria are able to find their way to land. Here they can act as a natural "fertiliser" and purify nitrogen from the soil, making them both extremely deadly and viable.
The soil sample, which was taken within a range of one metre from the Baltic Sea, on the shore of Finland.
Man made gold, 2022
Microscopic photograph on paper
42 cm x 29.7 cm
The work shows details of the Shungite stone, known forits purifying qualitites. After exposing the stone to the waters of the Baltic Sea, the work entails the aftermath of the black rocks’ purifying activities, adopting the heavy metals as being part of its own. The metals, carried by the currents of The Baltic Sea, amend the effects of time as they become one with the rock in the form of golden vains.
Land of the Blue Mountain, 2021
Digital print on hemp paper
48.3 cm x 32.9 cm
Mustikkamaa literally translates as Blueberry Land. However, the origin of the name is not to be found in the presence of blueberries - they do not grow on the island - but in the centuries of Swedish rule of Finland.
The island's original Finnish name is Land of the Blue Mountains, referring to the blue glow the rocks take on when wet. The name was translated into Swedish Blåbergslandet, but the name got lost in translation and over time changed to Blåbärslandet. After the Swedish rule the name of the island was translated back to Finnish, resulting in Mutstikkamaa: Blueberryland.
Peak Soil, 2021
Chromatography on chromatographic paper
30 cm x 30 cm
Peak Soil shows a photographic print of the soil, revealing various components of the soil by separating them, including the humus layer, the nutrients, the bacteria and the heavy metals (visible in the core). The technique, which uses silver nitrate as in the development of analogue photography, is normally used by scientists and farmers to monitor soil health.
The unusual appearance of the green-gold core is the starting point for research into possible responsible ways of mining in the future and could indicate the presence of blue-green algae, as seen in the microscopic image of work Green Imprints, and of gold and other metals, as seen in the microscopic image shown in work Man Made Gold.
Exhibition overview exhibition The Place To Be Galerie Pouloeuff, Naarden
in collaboration with Stichting BOK