PUU (TREE), 2024
Temporary public artwork
RGB LED sign, text
Duration: 04:00 min

In the Puu (Tree) installation, a linden tree cut down in front of Töölö Sports Hall haunts through a LED advertisement sign. The tragicomic text is based on the intense tree-cutting discussions that took place on the internet. The artwork interacts with the landscape of the Mannerheimintie renovation.

Do you know if they are cutting us down again somewhere nearby? Are they building an airport here? Helsinki is already far too gray. A gloomy concrete city. Was I just a superficial ornament of urban planning? Did I take too much space?

In Pitäjänmäki, oaks were moved out of the way for the tramline. Why wasn’t I moved? It was quite difficult to dodge the chainsaw. I can’t run, and I can’t fly. Of course, it’s easier to drive the machinery when they don’t have to avoid my roots and trunk.

According to which study was I rotten? As you can see from my stump, I was healthy. Sickness and healing are part of our lives too. In Stockholm, I would have been appreciated and protected. Here in Helsinki, we are cared for only with an axe and a chainsaw.

Have you heard about climate change and how I mitigated it? I shaded, dampened noise, cleaned the air, and I was beautiful, carrying the city’s history. I absorbed stormwater like a drain. Do you think dense construction is a climate act? LOL. Unfortunately, I can’t mitigate extremes in Töölö if I grow somewhere in Nuuksio.

Do you mourn me? Your sorrow is solastalgia, a longing for a meaningful place that no longer exists or is damaged. Don’t worry, I will sprout in time from my severed roots in the middle of desolate Mannerheimintie and blend again with the wind, water, sun, and clouds. But you won’t be there to see it.

On view: 11.8.-10.9.2024, Sports Hall Window, Helsinki
Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo
Curator: Eveliina Tuulonen
Photo: Courtesy of the artists

Puu is commissioned by Eveliina Tuulonen / Sports Hall Window