New public work of art by artist Tiina Raitanen completed in Telakkaranta in Helsinki

The List will be unveiled on Wednesday 2 November at 11.00 during an event open to the public. The work will be unveiled by the City of Helsinki Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure Paavo Arhinmäki. Artist Tiina Raitanen will be present at the event.

In The List, Tiina Raitanen has scaled up her artistic method, in which she makes moulds of and casts found objects using different techniques and compiles them into sculptures.

Some of the objects have only recently ended up at the worksite of the Chemicals Agency in connection with the renovation work, while others have been a part of the structures for decades. When enlarged, the shapes become abstract. They have, at some point in time, had a specific origin, material, production process and purpose for a while. In the sculpture, some shapes lean on each other, while one stands independently further away. They form an assortment, a kind of list.

The content of the work has been influenced not only by the history of the site but also by its present status. Tiina Raitanen says: 'The Chemicals Agency acts as a data repository and intermediary. The design of the sculpture depicts the layered effect of information and the importance of keeping systematic records. Legislation aims to protect humans and the environment from harmful chemicals, whether they are industrial chemicals or daily chemicals in solid, soluble or aerosol form. The different shapes and materials in my sculpture reflect the great diversity in chemicals.”

The materials of the sculpture have different characteristics. Where acid-resistant steel lasts for centuries in varying weather conditions, the shine of aluminium becomes cloudy over time due to the effect of a surface layer of oxides that protects the lower layers from corrosion, and the patina of bronze keeps gradually changing. Concrete lets its surroundings breathe through it. The sculpture appears different at different times of the year and in different light. The shiny steel surface reflects the ECHA building and the daily life of the area with people passing by. At the same time, the work reflects itself as its parts are mirrored by the shiny surface, creating an internal world of lights and reflections in the work. 

Tiina Raitanen (b. 1983) graduated with a degree in visual arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2012. She has also studied sculpture in Kunliga Konsthögskolan in Stockholm in 2018–2019. Her works have been exhibited in a number of group exhibitions, including in Art Museum Gösta of the Serlachius Museums in Mänttä in 2021, and she has held private exhibitions, e.g. in Galerie Sinne in Helsinki in 2019.

The City of Helsinki adheres to the Percent for Art principle, which means that approximately one per cent of the City’s new construction and renovation expenses allocated to infrastructure and real estate are dedicated to the creation of new public art. In recent years, extensive construction efforts have made it possible to commission art for many public buildings in Vuosaari, Pakila, Myllypuro and Kumpula, among other areas in Helsinki. HAM Helsinki Art Museum serves as an arts expert in these projects, and the works are added to the City of Helsinki’s public art collection managed by HAM Helsinki Art Museum.