Art meets Ice

Ice Age anyone? Got my share of it today, as I went to Korkeasaari, one of the many islands on Helsinki´s coastline. This piece of land though stands out cause it´s the home of one of the oldest zoos in the world, 122 years and counting! The variety of animals is impressive and last summer I paid most of them a visit. But what about winter? Does the time of hibernation have to be dull and boring?

Nah, seven years ago they thought up an ice sculpture competition called Art meets Ice which is held annually ever since. It´s spread over two weekends and I´m happy that I made it to the second time around. Public transportation lifted my own and many tourist´s asses comfortably to the event that was blessed with weather that couldn´t have been any better. February lived up to its Finnish reputation: cold and beautiful. The 12 € entrance fee where kind of a bummer but what is NOT expensive in this country? I payed up, teeth grinding, fists clenched. Trotting to the island´s peak I reconsidered my attitude and had to admit to myself that I definetely would pay that amount to see a bunch of cool bands, meaning artists. I was eager to see just a different league of artists, so what´s with the whining?

The artists where many and some came from quite untypical countries like Portugal, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Usual suspects comprised Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Norway...THE gunslingers when it comes to a block of ice and a chainsaw. Speaking of which, it was interesting to see the tools used in the competition. From everything out of an average tool box to buzz saws, power drills and the like, it all went into the process of crafting art. The exibits where stunning, highlighted literally by today´s sunshine. But let´s see some pictures already, damnit!

The theme for this weekend.

 Looks like the ram fears the drill of the Mongolian team. 

Eagle fly free.

The Austrian / Dutch team goes ape.

There´s nothing that creeps me out like spiders. Melt, you fucker, MELT!

The Russian artist adding the 4th leg. I would faint after the 6th.

Since living in good old Suomi currently means living in a refridgerator I had to deal with certain ups and downs here. On the downside I had to accept the fact that the spider wouldn´t melt until, let´s say March, if they won´t remove the exibits earlier. But even more urgent: taking pictures wasn´t too pleasant without gloves in at least minus ten degrees! You have to suffer for your art, right? I decided to let the real artists suffer in the cold and went to a kahvila for kahvi ja korvapuusti. After 15 minutes I regained control over my fingertips, so I went to check out the works of last week´s competitors. Yes, last week´s competitors, we´re living in a fridge, remember? And there we have the upside of it all, right there: some pieces were just a bit snow covered, but by no means less impressive since none of them succumbed to plus degrees. And here we go:

Last week´s theme.

One of my favorites. Many exibits underlined the theme drastically.

Like this one. It´s not meant to be beautiful as it depicts an oil covered pelican.

Even the snow looks like a foaming sea.

Another octopus, shaking the world Lovecraft-style.

A seahorse french kissing a woman. The artist´s title, not mine.

This week´s theme "Animal Behavior" might be linked directly to the competition´s host, namely the Helsinki Zoo. Rightly so, and why not? Last week though broadened the view on a wider topic questioning the "Future of Seas", and Korkeasaari, located in the Baltic Sea, is no stranger to that issue, either. I especially liked the very graphic way in which some of the artists brought the urgency for immediate action across. The spectacular was a real magnet for visitors from all over the world, let´s see if it wasn´t just eye candy but also food for thought. Sure hope for the latter. And by the way: this was only a selection, if you wanna see more pics, comment and let me know.

Make sure to check out:

www.korkeasaari.fi (Choose your language on the right)