Release (I never tasted a sea so unsalted), 2022
Sculpture
Salt stone, cotton rope, steel nail
75 x 140 x 25 mm
Ungoing


Release shows a salt stone replica of a metal dock cleat, used to tie vessels to the shore with a rope, which can be seen as one of the last moments of physical connectivity with solidity and consistency. Here, the object does not perform the role of securing, as the thin rope holds the brittle mass instead.

Through a combination of powerful, industrial processes and slow and intensive sculptural techniques, the sculpture depicts different modes of control. It implies a direct, uncompromising equivalence, emphasising the interconnectivity of the physical world. All are affected by encounters, and all matter can be seen as the manifestation of historical and emerging relationships.

Once placed at the Finnish shoreline, the sculpture will start to show a merging with time as the salt is exposed to the rhythms of the brackish Baltic water. Together with the movement of the rope against its surface, the sculpture will erode over time, causing the salt to flow into the Baltic sea, which tastes saltless. The work reflects on how our dynamics define the contours of time, space and matter, and how the physical and cultural boundaries, in turn, must be constantly reconfigured, while decreasing the fantasy of human exceptionalism.