Midsummer Night’s Stars
The starting point for the work has been the night sky above its location. The work pictures the stars as they would be seen on the spot at the Midsummer night – the nightless night. The public art work Midsummer Night’s Stars was revealed in fall 2022, installed on the facade of a residential building in Finland
Detail of work in November. Photo: Elisa Niittylä
Looking at the stars has various cultural meanings: besides navigation, the star charts have been part of different mythologies around the globe and the meaning and stories behind them vary in different locations. Altogether, 88 constellations have been found so far. Out of these 48 have been depicted already in the Greek maps over 1800 years ago. The humankind has been fascinated with the stars already before this as some of the constellations have been depicted already before written history. For example, the history of the Ursa Major goes beyond the written history as it has been depicted in different oral stories.
In the work, the names of the constellations are not included, but as the constellations in themselves are so recognisable they can be used by the kindergarten on the opposite side of the location in different kinds of star recognition games for example.
Draft depicting how the constellations will be positioned on the facade. Image: Maija Kovari. Background facades: BST-Arkkitehdit Oy
The work is based on the midsummer night’s star map as detailed as possible. However, it is not a scientific presentation but rather an artistic interpretation. The conventions of astronomic visualisations vary between different cultures and countries, for example the stars included and depicted in the Virgo constellation vary in different contexts. In the scientific context it is common to visualise the star map so, that the North is on the upside. This means that if the viewer would for example lay on the ground and watch the stars, they should have their feet facing South in order to use the map. In the work, the map is flipped and composed so that the viewer would face the Midsummer sun. The work combines these different traditions and conventions of representation to some degree, while mostly relying on the established conventions used locally in Finland.
Constellations on the Northern sky
Alltogether, the work consists of 277 stars - integrated led lights mounted on the wall. The intensity and size of the lights reflect the size and brightness of the actual stars. Besides the led lights the work consists of painted aluminium lines, which form the constellations. These lines are especially visible during the daytime, so the work appears differently depending on the time of the day.
The work plays with the idea of making the invisible visible as the stars of the nightless night of Midsummer become observable. Besides this play of visibility it is also a homage to the Northern sky. For us who live in the Northern regions the familiar constellations circle above steadily, whereas in the Equator areas the star map and the constellations appear more comprehensive as all the constellations are visible. The Big Dipper, Ursa Minor and Corona Borealis (Northern Crown) are thus marks of the Northern sky. The work illustrates this familiar sky, which is reliably there even if we can’t see it.
