Things that go blink in the night

« Dusk over the Hanasaari coal pile and the Vastavalo light installation. »

I have a love of all things that light up at night, like the Kide sculpture. Last month the Sanomat ran a picture of some glowing green things [which remind me of the luminescent esters we used to make in O-chem] next to the big pile 'o coal in Sörnäinen so I cut it out and made a note to make it up there at some point with my camera to take a photo of it.

We had decent weather on a recent evening so Jarkko carried my tripod, I grabbed the camera gear and we headed off for the glowing rods. While walking there we had to go through Merihaka which could only be described as a post-apocalyptic 1970s concrete and aluminum utopia made even creepier by it being devoid of any people anywhere. At some point a healthy looking young guy jumped out of the shadows asking for help which, from my being from US cities, I wasn't going to pay any attention [who doesn't carry a mobile in Helsinki?] to but Jarkko stopped and offered to call the police. It turned out that a really drunk guy was lying in a pool of blood in front of an entrance to one of the concrete blocks. The ambulance eventually arrived and the guy was ok if a bit hammered in the extreme. I was really happy to get out of there, no offense to the Merihaka residents, but to me it was just a really unsettling place at night. Maybe it's better during the daytime.

I set up my kit and waited for the lights to come on and looked at how pretty a city can become at night. The green lights tended to flicker on and off for an hour after dusk which was likely due to an overly sensitive photocell on the switch. I tried both 50mm and 35mm lenses, a variety of exposures and apertures and a few positions along the nearest point of land to the island. I'll probably go back with the pinhole and the 35mm lens and try a few other shots now that I have a better idea of what I want and will put them into a gallery sometime soon. The photo above was taken with the Leica with a 35mm/2.0 ASPH lens at f16 and a 15 sec exposure. The very small aperture is what causes the starlight effect on the sodium lights which is more attractive than the giant blob of light at f2 and a shorter exposure. The 50mm lens just couldn't take it all in. The Helsinki Energy web pages have an explanation about the installation in Finnish that Jarkko translated.

Hanasaari Art Installation Into Use

Coal Storage as part of the city landscape

The art Installation "Vastavalo" (The word can mean 'backlight' or, in this context, 'opposite light' for the lights opposite from Merihaka.), designed by architect Sakari Tilanterä, was unveiled in a ceremony in front of the power station on Sörnaisten rantatie on Friday, the 11th of June with representatives of the neighboring residences and businesses of the Hanasaari B power station in attendance.

The art installation consists of 56 apple green poles which form a fence circling the Hanasaari coal storage. The poles are lit with LED lights, the light reaches the eye of the viewer indirectly. The installation is lit in the evenings and nights and, during daylight hours, the green poles are visible against the black coal. The installation is implemented with energy saving LED lights representing the most modern lighting technology.

Architect Sakari Tilanterä says that the starting point for the design of the installation was urban landscaping. "I was asked to design an art installation that would enliven the coal storage of the power station in the eyes of the neighbors. The installation has been designed so that it is easily visible from Merihaka and its neighboring areas. This is exactly why a peaceful, natural light has been chosen; the installation must not disturb the night scenery, but instead enliven it in a good way."

The coal storage has inspired artists

The power station manager Hannu Kekkonen said in his dedication speech that the Hanasaari coal storage and art have previously had a lot in common. For example, in 1993 the artists Ritva Harle, Hanna Vainio, and Jukka Kuuranne designed and built an art installation called "Tulivuori" ("Volcano") into the coal storage using stripes of grass.

"Sakari Tilanterä, an architect who has been effecting the Hanasaari area architecture since the seventies has, at our behest, implemented an art installation that, without disturbing the operation of the power station, joins the power station in a new way as a part of the urban landscape and enlivens the coal storage for the enjoyment of our neighbors", said the Hanasaari power station manager Hannu Kekkonen.