Vangin Poika
Flux Aura -
International Environmental Art event in Turku, Finland
June – September 2009
FLUX AURA is a multidivisional manifestation where artists search new ways to communicate with the city environment. Vangin poika is one of the 21 installations that participate to the event. The installation consists in a pixelated image of a small boy that is attached to the rail of the Martinsilta bridge in Turku. The picture was originally a black and white photography that probably was taken by a professional photographer. The head of the boy and his gaze are directed towards the camera, in a pose of a classical portrait photo. The picture is from the period before the colourfullness of the digital era, it is a memory that no longer exist. A father used to sit in front of this picture at the Kakola prison. He was thinking of his small boy who was not there with him but somewhere outside, somewhere out in the freedom.
Kakola, the former central prison of Turku was joined to the regional prison of Turku in 2003. Together the two prisons were moved from the historical space of the hill of Kakola at the Turku city center to outcasts of the city. The empty prison buildings were opened the year after to turistic roundtours. The citizens could see the inside of the mysterious buildings that had been closed to the public eye for 180 years. The tours became extremely popular.
The pieceVangin poika wants to sensibilize the citizens to many different themes. The picture is hanged on the bridge so that the boys look is towards the sea, but also towards the Kakola prison. The image is unclear, because the origin of it is on the net. The origin of the picture is on Youtube, on a video where a private person filmed the round tour in the former prison of Kakola. In the empty prison there was nothing left that could remind of the private life of the prisoners exept this one small picture. In the piece the little boy stands on the bridge looking at the sea and the freedom, but also towards the father and his imprisonment. Through the work one can think about those people who’s life was touched by Kakola prison: the prisoners and their families, the stories inside the prison but also outside its walls. How was the relationship between a father and a son or between a man and a wife?
Besides the personal stories the piece invites also to think about the priciples of city planning. What is going to happen now to the empty prison buildings that are located in Turku city center?
