Heard by the Water
Heard by the water is a 10 part site specific environmental work situated on the shores of Tammerkoski rapids in Tampere, Finland
“For the duration of that summer, I would walk around the city, and listen to people, talking to each other. In the streets, in the cafés, in parks and market squares. People would talk about about everyday things - about love, longing, dogs, and, of course, food! This work tells stories of and is dedicated to the people of Tampere - past, future, and present. ”
In short
Ten sentences were situated along the shores of Tammerkoski during the festival
Heard by the water is an environmental work consisting of ten parts, all situated around the shores of Tammerkoski rapids in the heart of Tampere, Finland. The work was commissioned by the city of Tampere, an built for the celebrations of the 240th anniversary of the city. The work consists of sentences that I overheard while walking along the shores and around the city, installed as part of the riverbank landscapes. The work opened to the public on the 27th of September, and was on show with nine other works from different artists, for ten days - 240 hours - as part of Tampere 240 – Art along the Tammerkoski Rapids -festival. At the end of the festival, Tampere Art Museum decided to purchase the work and it became a permanent part of their collections. It was then decided that two of the sentences would stay permanently in their locations, and for the rest, the museum will find permanent locations around the city.
All sentences were said originally in Finnish, and the work presents them as they were heard - with the exception of one sentence being translated into Swedish, the second official language in Finland.
“Perhaps I just miss it” - this is a sentence I heard in a café in the marketplace, said by a young man. In Finnish language, there are no masculine and feminine pronouns. The word “it” can in spoken, informal language refer to a familiar person - male or female - or to something else. Maybe “it” is a situation that exists no more, or a place. In this visualisation I’ve sketched the phrase on the wall in Kehräsaari, a historical site now filled with small shops, restaurants, and an independent movie theater. The handwriting is of the husband of one on my closest friends, who, like us, moved here in our twenties and stayed. In total, i collected handwriting from about twenty people that live in Tampere. I wanted each handwriting to bring something more to the content of each text.
“In the heart of this work is the idea that this water has been a witness to the life of generations of people living here ovet the centuries. The rapids hear our sorrows and frustrations, our joys and hopes, carrying our memories forward in the stream. ”
part one: listening
The work begun by listening to people in everyday situations around town. A majority of the sentences are fragments - you will never know the full story. Still, you get a glimpse into what is happening and how the person feels about it. Below are some sentences I heard around the city during the summer 2019. All sentences were said originally in Finnish - I am doing my best in translating them to English, but quite a bit of the feeling of how things are said is, I’m afraid, lost in translation.
“Max is not at all religious - he hates the church bells ”
“Listen I am just so happy about this!”
“Grandma’s rules are different than mommy’s”
“Tä-tä-tä!”
The first part of my work was to walk around with my phone in my hand, ready to write down things I hear. The next phase was about choosing which ones to use. I wanted the work to have ten sentences - one for each day of the festival - and I wanted them to reflect different sides of life, instead of having, say ten sentences about food (which would have been easily arranged)
This photo is from my studio, where I collected photos of different sites that might be suitable, and pinned them on a map. I then printed the sentences and tested them on the photos.
part two: writing
When I had the sentences down to 15 to 20 favourites I started collecting handwriting samples from people I know, to see how the handwriting affected the mood of the words. All the words in the final work are written by someone who lives in Tampere, around this water - some are born here, some have moved here and decided to stay.
Liisa writing.
“I collected handwriting from about 20 locals of different age, men, women and children. I wanted to create a whole, where each handwriting adds some meaning to the words in question. ”
I used one notebook to collect all the handwriting samples. Then I took copies of the pages and cut them so I had individual samples that I could test around with, without damaging the originals. I made groups of them and tested them on photos of sites, to create the final list of sentences to be built for the work. I had a lot of favourites that couldn’t fit in!
This particular one is hard to translate. I heard it being said to their friend by someone waiting in line at a lunch stand at a market place, while contemplating what to order. Literally it says: “This summer’s meat pie has already been eaten”. The traditional Finnish meat pie could be described as a guilty pleasure.
“I used one notebook to collect all the handwriting samples. Then I took copies of the pages and cut them so I had individual samples that I could test around with, without damaging the originals.”
“I decided that I would continue, nonetheless ”
“Mom is drinking coffee now”
“All kinds of things to see and do - I’ll have to stop working to have the time! ”
While working on this piece, I also studied historical photographs of the area. This is one from the 1890’s.
“Comparing the city to the 1890’s, almost everything has changed. The rapids, however, even if their role is different, still run through the city, and people still live along its shores. In a way, Tampere still consists of Tammerkoski and the people living on its shores.”
“Just being with you is what I love” - visualisation.
““Just being with you is what I love” is an exeption in the group. I did not hear it around town, but in my mind. When I arrived in Tampere in 2007, I first fell in love with a local man, and later, with the city. Keeping this one as part of the work is my way of saying: Maybe the water can hear not just what we say, but also our hearts.”
“Now I just can’t seem to remember what it was that I was lacking”
“Whoooa! ”
part three: making & installation
After choosing the phrases, I photographed the original texts, and vectorized them on the computer and scaled each to fit their specific site. This made it possible to cut the words from aluminum sheets that can hold the weather and other outside conditions.
Selecting the words in Photoshop and making some finishing touches.
Letters cut from 3 millimeter aluminum sheets were painted white.
Letters were individually attached to black, purpose made frames.
Testing installation at the factory - work was built by folks at Tammerneon.
When all the words were ready, we brought them downtown and installed then during one autumn day.
Photos of the installation below are by: Timo Bredenberg
part four: celebration!
The work was opened to the public on 27th September 2019 and was on show for 240 hours to celebrate the 240th anniversary of the city.
Second row, middle photo: Jari Kuusenaho/Tampere Art Museum - others: Maija Kovari
Whats next?
To my delight, Tampere Art Museum purchased the work as a permanent part of their collection, letting two of the ten parts of the work to stay in their place. For the remaining eight, the museum will find permanent locations around the city.
The work was originally commissioned as part of a 10 day festival, so it was mostly taken down as planned at the end of the celebrations.
After purchasing the work, Tampere Art Museum negotiated for two parts of the work to stay as permanent features of their sites- above in pink.
Thanks
Taitelija valvoo asennusta ;) kuva: Timo Bredenberg
I want to thank all who made this work possible. Firstly all those thousands of people whose wisdom and humor I was able to enjoy by simply walking around the city during a summer. Secondly, all of the people who offered their handwriting to give the work lots of personality - Sepi, Riku, Liisa, Aila, Krisse, Kaisa, Petri, Paavo, Asko, Maria, Timo, Helena, Tuomo, Eeva, Jorma, Suvi-Mari, Sara, Emilia, and Raija. To Eira, a special thanks to going through the sentences and translating to Swedish. Additionally I want to thank the people at Tammerneon for manufacturing the letters and helping with installation.
Thank you also to the City of Tampere and Visit Tampere for trusting in my proposal in the competition phase, otherwise the work would have stayed just an idea.
Finally a special thanks to Tampere Art Museum for making the work a permanent part of their collections, and organised in ten days for two of the phrases to be left in the city space permanently - for this also thanks to the property owners of these sites. The remainign eight phrases will find their permanent places around the city in time. Thank you ❤️
“Can mommy get the rest of your doughnut?”