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The Voice of Contemporary Art

A soprano voice playing from a record player fills the space. The sound is a conflicting blend of self-examination and justification of a grave robber’s remorse and shame. It belongs to Confession Piece for Voice, a sound installation created by artist Jonna Kina in collaboration with composer Lauri Supponen. The artwork was exhibited at Helsinki Contemporary in 2021, and it is now part of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma’s collections. 

Sound has always been the most important of all senses for Kina. She reflects on her works through sound even when they are silent.

“The capability of sound to directly affect our emotional register is ultimately a multisensory experience. That’s why sound is a natural element in visual arts, where silence is a typical characteristic of space. I am fascinated by how sound can operate on the boundaries of the emotional, intuitive, and conceptual, even the irrational”, Kina says.

Interpreter of new worlds

Nainen värikkäässä villapaidassa istuu puisten tikkaiden päällä.

Kina feels most comfortable on the edge of something new. As an artist, she observes her surroundings, and creates new worlds based on her interpretations. In addition to sound, Kina uses moving image, installation, photography, sculpture, and language in her works. Not everything can be verbalized though—if it could, making art could become boring. 

Sometimes Kina’s works arise from a compelling need. She might be haunted by something that calls for her attention. This was the case with the exhibition series about the grave robbers.

The story begun in Mazzano Romano in 2017. Kina attended an artist residency in the small Italian village, where she found a jar belonging to the Faliscan culture in a local archaeological museum. The ancient, grave-robbed object captivated the artist, who returned to look and photograph the jar again and again.

The object eventually became part of a video piece titled Red Impasto Jar, a moving portrait of the jar placed on top of an industrial motor, which, as it spins, reveals the fragile essence of the jar to the viewer.

“The story of the jar is unknown but it was intended for the afterlife. I had to make a piece out of it to break free from its spell. The jar made me wonder if it is right to present a culture or a language one does not know, or if the museum has the right to present an object that belongs to another person’s memory”, Kina says.

Mobility opens new doors

Last autumn, Kina spent three months at the Fabrikken residency in Copenhagen funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation. Kina, who earned a master’s degree from the Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts, has also studied and worked in New York and Jerusalem. She says that the importance of mobility only comers clear when an opportunity to travel arises.

“A new environment activates the senses and generates new thoughts very differently from the familiar home environment. Through traveling comes a revelation that no one comes to Finland just passing by. Sometimes it can be long after the residency when I realize what I achieved, and how my work progressed”, she says. 

According to Kina, establishing international contacts is one of the most important aspects of an artist residency. In Copenhagen, she met curator Nadim Samman, who invited Kina to participate in a group exhibition at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin this spring. Her piece Secret Words and Related Stories will be on display, and in March Kina will hold a reading performance.

Nainen värikkäässä villapaidassa nojaa valkoiseen seinään.

Apart from meeting the curators, Kina finds exchanging ideas with fellow artists fascinating. During her time at Fabrikken, she was mentored by local contemporary artist Joachim Koester.

“Another artist understands the different stages of the process and work-related matters, such as materials and forms, at a microcosmic level. Exchanging technical advice is useful too”, she says.

Artistic Inventory

Last year, Kina’s career and personal life were full of meaningful events. She took part in three international museum exhibitions, a gallery exhibition, and also became a mother for the first time. After a busy period, Kina wants to take time to reflect her life, and to hold what she calls an artistic inventory.

“An artist is not a machine. I want to quiet down, and proceed slowly in order to have space for something new. Once in a while it’s important to get lost in order to suddenly find yourself in the middle of something interesting, and let it lead somewhere”, Kina says.

The current atmosphere has also led Kina to contemplate her work and art in relation to everything else. In a world filled with threats, the significance of art has become even more emphasized, she says.

“I want to remember to think of the good, and to approach things that touch me, but which the present society does not call for. Art is a channel through which all sorts of things can be addressed”, Kina concludes.

Artist Jonna Kina received a residency grant in 2023. She worked for three months at Fabrikken Residency in Denmark in the autumn of 2023.

Masculinity shaped by Lutheranism

“Now men are talking!” “Men need to be heard.” These are a couple of examples of headlines in the media from recent years. They summarise the need to start a discussion about Finnish men and the expectations, norms, and ideals attached to them in modern society.

A four-year project at the University of Eastern Finland, led by doctor of theology and university lecturer Sini Mikkola, is contributing to this conversation. The Finnish Cultural Foundation awarded the project a grant of 242 000 euros in 2024.

Nainen kuvattuna sälekaihtimien läpi, taustalla seurakuntasali ja saarnatuoli

“The aim of our project is to examine the Lutheran background of the ideals and norms of masculinity from the 16th century all the way to the first decades of the 1900s. We believe that the historically strong position of the Lutheran church and religion has been relevant in terms of the expectations attached to the male gender.”

Norms of masculinity from several centuries

The project studies the formation of the ideas of masculinity, starting with Martin Luther’s Germany and then moving on to Finland from the 17th to the 19th century.

“We look at the expectations that not only priests, professors, and politicians but also ‘ordinary’ people in less influential positions set for masculinity, how these expectations were met, and what the role of religion was in defining masculinity.”

Along with Mikkola, the project is carried out by PhD Miia Kuha, MTh Tapio Leinonen and DTh, BA Hanna Pöyry. They all cast light on the historical legacy of the Finnish perception of men.

“Manhood, masculinity, and the associated customs, beliefs, and norms aren’t born in a vacuum; they take a long time to form,” Mikkola notes. “That’s why they are worth studying from a historical perspective.”

The effect of Luther and his thoughts on vocation

Mikkola says that Lutheranism and the expectations linked to masculinity are strongly connected, even in everyday speech. The Lutheran work ethic is one example of this.

“It has shaped the Nordic and thus also Finnish norm of a man as a hard worker and uncompromising bearer of responsibility. The basis of the concept of work ethic lies in Luther’s idea of a worldly vocation. Luther was of the opinion that whatever a man’s profession was, the command and call to work came from God.”

Although the idea of a Protestant work ethic is originally from Max Weber, Mikkola notes that Luther’s understanding of vocation must have influenced the norms of masculinity associated with Nordic men.

“However, many normative ideas have roots even further back in history.”

The era of national romanticism valued strength

Nainen istuu puisessa penkissä ja katsoo kameraan. Taustalla harmaa kiviseinä.
According to Sini Mikkola, people grow into both manhood and womanhood in a similar way, by adjusting socially to the expectations of their environment.

According to the long-standing norms of masculinity, a decent man takes care of his family, thinks rationally, shows leadership, and is the head of his family.

“Of course, the extent to which these ideals have been realised in the lives of individual men is another matter. Ideals and reality rarely go hand in hand.”

During the period of national romanticism in the second half of the 19th century, the expectations and ideals attached to men were somewhat diversified in Finland, as Fennomania was rising its head in the Grand Duchy of Finland ruled by Russia.

“For example, in his poetry Zacharias Topelius highlighted a fit and healthy young man, simultaneously humble and God-fearing but also a strong and righteous defender of his home and mother. The opposite example was of a weak wimp hiding behind his mother, not deserving of respect.”

Demand for modern men’s studies

Throughout history, Mikkola says, man has been the absolute of humanity. When a man is considered a representative of humanity in general, the fact that his experiences and thoughts are also determined by his gender is often neglected.

“Men’s studies have examined this gender-blindness and begun to uncover the different kinds of norms related to masculinity, their producers, and the structures that maintain them.”

Men’s studies are becoming increasingly prevalent, but masculinity has been studied far less than femininity.

“I believe that the critical examination of masculinity and its norms is an act of equality, too. People grow into both manhood and womanhood in a similar way, by adjusting socially to the expectations of their environment.”

Turning to forest for water resistance

Mies kurkistaa laboratoriovälineiden takaa

All over the world, people are competing to find solutions to replace plastic products with wood-based alternatives.

As a material, plastic is functional, durable, practical, and cheap. The problem lies in the fact that plastic is made from crude oil, so it sustains our dependence on fossil fuels.

“There is an immense amount of wood in Finland, and it could be processed further than just into paper and cardboard,” says Mikko Alava, professor of physics at Aalto University.

When it comes to water resistance, wood pales in comparison with plastic. Anyone who’s ever used disposable tableware outdoors has noticed how wood-based plates and cups get wet.

A thin plastic coating has to be added to paper coffee cups, resulting in the material no longer being fossil-free; and even then, a paper cup will eventually get soggy.

Thus, the key question is to develop a water-resistant wood-based material to replace plastic. Alava and his colleagues aim to find a solution with the help of lignin.

Lignin constitutes 30% of the mass of wood, and it’s a polymer, a bundle composed of small molecules. Lignin is formed by the coupling of three phenylpropane units, and its structure varies individually.

Lignin is easily available; initially, lignin comprises up to a half of the black liquor of a pulp digester. However, in terms of paper and cardboard, lignin is a harmful substance. In pulp manufacturing, it is discarded, and eventually it will be burnt to generate energy.

“In the future, lignin might be more valuable as an alternative for plastic than as fuel.”

AI to the rescue

Lignin is water-repellent. It forms vascular tissue in trees and other vascular plants, enabling the conduction of water and thus sustaining the life of the plant.

With the help of lignin, a tree can control its water transportation and doesn’t get soaked. This means that in order to replace plastic with wood-based materials, lignin must be organised as neatly as it is within wood.

“Our goal is to break down the wood and then rebuild it. The fibres are used to make foam, and lignin is added to this foam to make it water-resistant.”

On a general level, the recipe is simple: make foam out of cellulose fibres, then throw in lignin, stir and mix, and let dry – and you’ll have an alternative for plastic.

Alava and his colleagues, researchers Juha Koivisto and Tero Mäkinen and two graduate students are still unsure as to what the best structure for this wood-based material is and what process should be used to produce it in a way that makes the material water-repellent. They are trying different kinds of mixing ratios and mixing and heating methods, then testing the properties of the material.

There are endless opportunities, so they’ve turned to artificial intelligence for help.

“We can give artificial intelligence all the information we have gathered so far and ask what should or shouldn’t be tried next. This way, we can skip 90% of the tests and just conduct the ones artificial intelligence deems relevant,” Alava says.

A successful yet soggy substitute

The idea of a water-repellent wood product is a successor to Foamwood, a process that Alava and his group created to make lightweight and solid foam from forest materials as a substitute for expanded polystyrene. 

The foam isn’t water-resistant, but it’s been useful in dry environments, such as replacing bubble wrap in parcels. Startup company Woamy is looking to turn it into a commercial success.

“Being able to send products without plastic is a competitive advantage for various companies,” says Alava.

Packaging for ready meals and restaurants

Mies seisoo laboratoriossa valkoinen kiekko kädessään.
The research of Mikko Alava and his team is expected to result in wood-based packaging material for snacks and restaurant food.

Alava is confident that his team will find a recipe for a water-resistant alternative for plastic.

“Our efforts will probably succeed, and we’ll also come up with something unexpected, as is often the case in research.”

Sometimes an invention can also turn a profit, but this remains to be seen.

Alava and his colleagues aren’t looking for a perfect solution. When each and every lignin molecule is different, it can be difficult or even impossible to develop an industrial process for products that are expected to remain 100% waterproof for decades. Hence, we’re unlikely to see a wood-based Styrofoam in frost insulation; a wood-based packaging material for ready meals and restaurants is a much more likely outcome.

“As long as the product is water-resistant enough and easy to recycle after use, it’s good,” Alava concludes.