Image and sound recordings of the tearing down and rebuilding process of Arabianranta 1999- 2002
The historical surroundings of Vanhankaupunki area in Helsinki, and the Arabia factory environment with its wasteland meet new city construction in Arabianranta. Excavators dig the industrial waste laden shore for the foundation of the new Art and Design City. Piling machines press concrete piles through layers of porcelain and ceramic deep into the clay bottom of the sea. Tramline breaks a piece of Hirsipuukallio-cliff on its way towards Lume-centre. The top layer of contaminated earth is scraped off, the colourful pipes and cables entwine on the bottoms of the pits, rock is being blown away.
I have been filming the transformation of Arabianranta scenery for three years. The eldest material on the demolition of old buildings is shot on 8-millimeter film. I have documented the later stages with a digital video camera. The intention is to carry on filming until the reconstruction of the area is “complete”. The rebuilding process wrecks the identity of the area bit by bit. The environment is being reduced to a flat ground for the massive building scheme, which produces new environment. What is removed from the environment, what is being kept and what is brought in?
By exposing this process frame by frame, the yearlong process is compressed to a few minutes as a film projection. Matter that is not in the environment anymore is blinking next to new constructions. The old and the new meet as images that follow each other.
Exposed Transformation video compilation is presented at MUU gallery and simultaneously in its filming location in an old wooden kiosk, next to the last stop of tram 6 in Arabia.
The project is supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and by the National Council for Visual Arts.
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