We are preparing a public artwork to Ruosniemen Kukkulakallio, Pori. It’s an Ore.e Ref. effort, an extension of an initiative we call p3rm46r4ff171 which was set in motion early 2020. This phase will be executed in the framework of the second iteration of the Performing the Fringe -exhibitions and hosted by the Porin Art Museum. The museum will also be responsible for commissioning the work. This is the second permanent public artwork we’ve made. What we are planning merges p3rm46r4ff171 with my previous efforts on mineral waters. The site is an abandoned granite quarry which was established in the 20ties. Rocks from the site have been used to build the Pori bridge. A newspaper article details that WWII Germany troops, who prepared an expansion to the Pori airport forced Soviet war prisoners to work at the mine. The area has an interesting history. There is Bronze Age site called Ruosniemi metsäsarat right next to the quarry and well preserved hiidenkiuas tomb constructions called Ruosniemi 1 located close by. A pond, named Ankkalampi (Duck Pond) has formed to the quarry pit and serves as a popular swimming site. A pair of local entrepreneurs have established an accommodation service next to the pond which they call FinnDome. Guests of the service are hosted in plastic geodesic domes and there is a sauna too. Bronze Age and Buckminster Fuller (here is a nice interview on his philosophy) merged with mineral waters and a initiative tiled p3rm46r4ff171.
The Ruosniemi quarry is featured on the photo archive of the Geological Survey of Finland. The images are by Ilkka Laitakari who passed on in 1996, which dates the graffiti on the walls of the quarry to the 90ties! Some text read -93 and I’m imagining that as many of the texts are painted using the same color and same width of strokes, they could be traces of a youth event organized in 1993. Jussi Matilainen told me that just behind hill is (or was, he hadn’t visited the site in a while) a skiing resort (one lift) which earned the area the title Ruosnimen Alpit (the Alpines of Ruosniemi). Found downhill mountain biking videos titled with this site name (mentioned this to Polukord!). I spotted a swastika symbol on site which led me to investigate its role in Finnish folklore. Suomalaisista taikamerkeistä: kansatieteellinen tutkielma [Finnish magical signs: A folklorist study] (1937) Sulo Haltsonen provides detailed investigation of different magical symbols used in the region and concludes that the symbol is not common in Finnish magical practices. The article underlines that organizations in the 30ties have attempted to framed as a locally significant sign, which is how it became the emblem of the Finnish air force but judging from evidence it is not very common or frequently used.
I will be looking for minerals and waters from the quarry area. A recent discussion in relation to the Protection Spells -curatorial project by Native Art Department International (for MOCA Toronto/Shift Key) led me to explore water as a relation to a locality. Processes were we explore spring waters nurtures appreciation of locality and the nature of specific sites. By drinking the spring water we become aware of the taste of a locale and become with a site. This is problematic, as in Finland we don’t really know who we will become when drinking spring water here. Everyone in Europe is afraid that if we root identities on locality we risk becoming violently territorial. Weirdly this portrays bottled waters like evian or sanpellegrino as deterritorialization potions. We must drink the spring waters from a far to keep our nationalistic tendencies at bay. On the other hand I will be manufacturing artificial mineral waters. If we can become with a site trough the taste of a spring water, then we should also be able to imagine a completely new site from the taste of an artificial water. By tasting, we can imagine assemblies yet to come. The water I’ll produce form the Kukkulakallio will be an attempt to document the obscure p3rm46r4ff171 project as a taste. Making a mineral water is getting pretty complicated.