Suloisessa Suomessamme exhibition in Iisalmi, 1–30.7.2017.
The artwork was installed in the central alley in Iisalmi city in an exhibition curated by artist Kaarina Kaikkonen. She invited fifteen Finnish sculptors to install works in this beautiful alley, nowadays forgotten by the citizens, driving by in their cars. The artwork has been installed earlier in gallery- and museum exhibitions, together with the wall work War. Now I wanted to try out if it would function in outdoor exhibitions too. The gun and the two bullets have been casted using concrete in the earth and has traces of roots and leaves on the surface.
Earth Gun and Bullets is a part of a series of artworks which deal with the expression of violence in drawings made during my – as well as my son’s – childhood. What do we transfer to the next generation? Why is the interest in guns so widespread among children? Where are the roots of this energy? In Finland, the laws are strict concerning the use of guns, which means that one almost never see a gun displayed in normal social conditions. But underneath the surface is another truth: There are approximately 1.6 million registered weapons in Finland with a population of approximately 5,5 million. The country has the highest rate of firearm ownership in Europe and the third highest in the world, behind only the United States and Yemen.
