Karoliina Niemelä’s and Pirjo Lempeä’s collaboration began in 2011. Their first art project was Myriad Stories, a media artwork using the method of community art. The project’s idea was to encourage people to think about the best aspects of their lives. Later their cooperation continued e.g. in community art projects targeted for young people and media art projects. The Beginning got its inspiration from the birth of the world and from the question of how did it all begin. It is based on the ancient question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. According to the Finnish national epic Kalevala, at the beginning of time there was only water and air, and the world was not yet formed. The only creature was Ilmatar, who was floating in the primal sea. The first bird in the world made a nest on Ilmatar’s knee and laid seven eggs from which the world was built. As a form, the egg is perfect in all its simplicity. Clay as a material carries within itself the history of mankind. Clay deposits are ancient seabeds that have emerged by the land uplift. In these layers, different stages of the post-glacial period can be seen. The sculpture’s construction shows one of the ways to connect human beings with nature. Pottery is one of the earliest human handicraft skills. The way the sculpture is fired also connects us to the very beginning of humanity. The sculpture is created with monumental ceramic sculpture technique. The progress of the sculpture’s completion will be documented as a timelapse video, which examines the concept of time and functions as a contrast to the sculpture: material in contrast to immaterial, the age-old way of doing in contrast to modern technology, site-bound in contrast to nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
The Beginning at Art Ii Biennial 2020
The sculpture will be seen at Pakinnokka beach at Kuivaniemi as part of Art Ii Biennial 2020, and it will be open to public the entire summer. The video will be also published at www.artii.fi as an independent piece of art. Artist are present at the worksite on Wednesday 10 June and on Thursday 12 June 1-2PM. The work will be revealed on Saturday 13 June at 12-1PM.
Address: Pankinnokantie 45, 95100 Kuivaniemi
N65 34.024’ E25 10.467’
DRIVING INSTRUCTIONS (TOWARDS NORTH):
- Heading north on the E75/E8 road, keep heading straight for 30km past the Ii bridges until you reach the Neste Nelosparkki gas station in Kuivaniemi. The gas station will be located on the left side of the road. Turn left to Kirkkotie.
- Follow the road for 1km. Turn right to Kaikkolantie right before the Kuivaniemi church.
- Follow Kaikkolantie for 1km. At the next crossroads, head straight to Pankinnokantie.
- Follow the road for about 100m. Turn left to continue on Pankinnokantie once you see an old “uimaranta” sign.
- The beach is located at the end of the dirt road. The artwork can be found at a shore point located west of the parking area.
